The goal for preseason for the Los Angeles Lakers is to make it out healthy and get in-game reps with the new additions.
After tearing a tendon in his right foot last season, LeBron James clearly was not at 100% during the latter stages of the team’s playoff push and playoff run. The four-time champion wrestled with the thought of retirement due to the amount of energy he exerted, plus being 38-years-old with 20 years in the league under his belt.
Heading into the offseason, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka wanted to retain the core players like D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura while also making tweaks around the edges. During the Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets, L.A.’s lack of offensive firepower showed. The additions of Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince and Christian Wood are assumed to be solutions to the problem.
Now heading into his 21st season, James’ workload is going to be handled carefully and the additional depth to the roster should help that. That has been seen already with James playing half of the preseason games. After playing the first half against the Golden State Warriors last week, he was seen eating on the bench during the second half and Lakers legend Michael Cooper was not a fan of that, via Showtime Podcast with Michael Cooper:
“I didn’t like that. Again, he’s LeBron James, but still, you’ve got to have respect for the game, man. He’s over there — I don’t mind the guy eating, but go eat in the locker room, and then when you come out, you come out and be part of the team, not just sit on the end of the bench eating.”
Cooper has not been the only one to share his opinion on this, as a clip of James eating has been talked about in recent days. Cooper played during the Showtime era, which was a vastly different style than today’s game and could play a factor in his thoughts.
Due to the media coverage that surrounds the Lakers and James, everything is under a microscope and will be judged. Cooper certainly has a valid point of contention and James’ actions could rub people the wrong way.
However, the NBA’s leading scorer has shown that he is invested in the team and is giving his all to the Lakers franchise. It is during preseason, so the games do not matter record-wise and do not carry a lot of weight, so that could be a reason behind his eating on the bench. If anyone has earned the right to do something of that nature, it’s definitely LeBron.
Reaves wants to be able to tell his kids he won a championship with James
While his actions during the Warriors game could garner mixed opinions, James is still committed to winning another championship with the Lakers. Reaves has a similar goal in mind as he recently stated that he hopes he can tell the tale to his kids how he won a championship with James one day and knows he is running out of time to make it happen.
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