When LeBron James chose to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 2018, many people questioned why considering the franchise was in the middle of a rebuild and had young talent but no other stars in place.
Paul George was rumored to be joining James on the Lakers but that never came to fruition. Considering he came to L.A. alone, a lot of criticism was aimed at LeBron saying he only went to the Lakers to make movies and pursue other business ventures off the court.
That, of course, was not the case though as the Lakers would trade for Anthony Davis a year later and then won the 2020 NBA Championship, the fourth of James’ career.
Fast forward a few years and James is set to enter his seventh season with the Lakers after signing a new deal in the offseason. Even though they haven’t won it all since 2020, LeBron has stuck through it all and now will have the chance to likely finish his career in the purple and gold alongside his son Bronny.
As it turns out, there were indeed reasons beyond basketball for James to come to the Lakers. In fact, the organization’s treatment of Kobe Bryant, another inner circle Hall of Famer and franchise legend, in the final years of his career played a big factor for LeBron, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN:
That requires a clarity of purpose: Everything he and the Lakers will do this season is about making the most of the final years of LeBron James’ illustrious career and avoiding some of the painful lessons of their past — when franchise icon Kobe Bryant finished his career with three injury-riddled seasons and very few opportunities to win.
Part of the reason James came to the Lakers as a free agent in 2018 is the standard of care they showed during the final seasons of Bryant’s career a decade ago, sources said. James liked playing for an iconic franchise as much as he liked how it treated its iconic players.
The Lakers organization has always been known for taking care of its superstars, and Bryant is just one example of that.
Dr. Jerry Buss and now Jeanie Buss have understood the importance of that and other superstars like James have obviously taken notice. By now taking care of LeBron in his final years like they did Kobe, the Lakers are certainly hoping it will lead to them landing another star down the road after the NBA’s all-time leading scorer hangs up his sneakers.
Jeanie Buss: LeBron James is a bargain for Lakers
Jeanie Buss and the Lakers took care of LeBron James this offseason by giving him a new max contract with a full no-trade clause. In turn, James took a slight discount in order to ensure the organization stays below the second tax apron of the new CBA.
When speaking on James’ new deal, Buss called it a bargain as the superstar is worth way more to the organization than what the salary cap will allow them to pay him.
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