by Paul Teetor
Maybe he really did mean it.
Maybe he really is not coming back next season.
Or maybe he really does want to leave LA for greener pastures.
It’s been more than three weeks since LeBron James said he had a lot of things to think about before deciding whether or not he is going to play basketball for the Lakers next year.
This week LeBron finally broke his radio silence.
But his message wasn’t what Lakers fans wanted to hear from the 38-year-old superstar who led the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals, where they were swept by the Denver Nuggets, who then went on to beat the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.
It wasn’t the amped up “Let’s run it back.”
In fact, it wasn’t even addressed to his teammates or his fans.
Instead, it was LeBron’s taunting response to Denver coach Mike Malone, who was still steamed that LeBron had stolen the shine – and all the post-game publicity — from his team’s sweep of the Lakers with his not-so-subtle hints about a possible retirement.
“The frustration of our series against the Lakers was, we win Game 1 and the headlines are ‘Lakers figure out Nuggets’ even though we’re up 1-0,” Malone said. “Then we win the series and the media narrative is Lakers, Lakers, Lakers because of LeBron. I think we’ve done enough to hopefully put the Denver Nuggets in people’s minds and their hearts…if they don’t, we don’t give a shit.”
A couple of days after the Nuggets finished off the Heat in the NBA Finals, four games to one, Malone got caught up in the raucous Denver celebrations, swigged a few too many beers, and let loose with his own I’m-outta-here hints.
“Speaking of the Lakers, I just want you guys to know – this is breaking news – that I’m thinking about retiring, so don’t tell anybody,” Malone said on the Pat McAfee Show.
It was intended as a joke at LeBron’s expense, since the NBA has been buzzing for the last month about the sincerity of LeBron’s comments and the possibility that he had played his last game for LA. Was he just responding emotionally to being swept, was he laying down a demand that the team get better if he is to come back, or was it a genuine feeling that maybe, after 19 seasons, the time really has come to hang up his $250 sneakers?
After all, he set the NBA career scoring record this past season and just as easily could have lost in the play-in round – they had to go to overtime to beat Minnesota – as make it to the Western Conference Finals. And with Denver looking to be at the start of a budding dynasty, how likely is he to win another NBA title with the Lakers as currently constructed?
Not bloody likely.
LeBron quickly responded to Malone’s trolling comments, even though his name hadn’t been explicitly mentioned.
“In Europe for the last past few weeks minding my business and I hear I’m on your mind that much huh???” LeBron posted on his Instagram Story. “I mean I guess I see why. But wave the flag on these lames!! Please make being a player cool again cause the lame machine is at an all-time high. Enjoy your light but just know I’m the SUN. I stay on forever!”
Why didn’t LeBron simply ignore what was obviously a joke intended to troll him – no coach in sports history has ever retired right after winning a championship – or better yet clap back with a post congratulating Denver on its first-ever NBA championship and warning them that the Lakers are coming to take the NBA title away from them next season?
Most likely because there is so much going on behind the scenes here that he is not ready to make that kind of commitment to his team or the fans. He wants to wait and see what the Lakers roster looks like when all the smoke clears two weeks from now.
He knows better than anyone that the two weeks before and after July 1 are the two most important weeks in the NBA calendar. Remember, he owned the summer of 2010 when he broke the months-long suspense and announced he was leaving Cleveland and taking his talents to South Beach, just as he owned the summer of 2014 when he announced he was coming back to Cleveland, and the summer of 2018 when he announced he was leaving Cleveland for LA.
So once again LeBron’s momentous decision – if he hasn’t already made it – will be decided by what happens over the next two weeks.
First of all, the annual NBA draft is this Thursday, June 22. The Lakers have the 17 pick – the highest pick they have had in a long time – and since this is a deep draft they have an opportunity to get a very good player, maybe even someone like UCLA’s gritty power forward Jaime Jaquez who could be a rotation player by the middle of next season. That would certainly encourage him to come back to the Lakers.
Then on July 1 the free agency period starts, when players like Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Khris Middleton, Fred Van Vleet and Draymond Green will all be available to sign as unrestricted free agents, meaning the Lakers would not have to give up any players to get them – just a lot of money.
This is where it really gets interesting. Three of those five unrestricted free agents – Irving, Harden and Van Vleet — are point guards, and point guard just happens to be the biggest position in need of upgrading if the Lakers are to be true championship contenders next season.
D’Angelo Russell, in his second stint as a Laker, proved once and for all that he is in no way a championship player. He’s a sieve on defense, just waving at players as they blow by him. He’s an extremely streaky shooter – much more likely to be ice-cold rather than smoking hot – and he’s a below average NBA athlete. But most of all, he simply plays with no heart and is not the kind of fierce competitor that LeBron needs alongside him.
Russell is also an unrestricted free agent, and if the Lakers choose to re-sign him that will be a definite signal that they are not planning on competing for an NBA title this season.
Not only is Denver going to be tough to beat, but on Sunday afternoon Phoenix traded point guard supreme Chris Paul to Washington for All-star shooting guard Bradley Beal. That now gives Phoenix a three-star lineup – Beal joins Kevin Durant and Devin Booker — and makes them the logical pick to face Denver in the Western Conference Finals next spring.
Washington is entering a re-building phase and thus has no use for the 38-year-old Paul, who took Phoenix to the NBA Finals just two years ago but has been derailed by injuries in both seasons since then.
Washington has until June 28 to trade Paul to someone else or pay him $15 million – a pittance in today’s NBA – to waive him and let him become an unrestricted free agent. Paul would then be free to sign with the Lakers – or the Clippers, or any other team — for a veteran’s minimum contract of $3.8 million.
Why would he sign with the Lakers on a minimum deal after making $48 million last season? For a couple of reasons. First of all, he and LeBron are close friends and have always dreamed of playing together but they never could make it happen. Now is their big chance.
As if to emphasize how much LeBron’s future is up in the air, retired Laker great Shaquille O’Neal this week endorsed the idea of erecting a statue of LeBron outside what used to be known as the Staples Center, alongside his statue and those of Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
“If they wanted to give him a statue, I’d be fine with that,” O’Neal said. “He did win a title with the Lakers and lots of people say that it doesn’t count. But LeBron broke the scoring record and he broke the record as a Laker. He’s a great player, great ability and he did what he was supposed to do as a Laker. But the thing about the Lakers is that Lakers fans are really greedy. Okay, you got us this bubble championship, but when are you going to give us another. It’s always that way.”
That’s probably one of the many issues LeBron is thinking about as he cruises around Europe. Lakers fans can only wait and hope until he gives them a definitive answer.
Stay tuned.
Contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com. Follow: @paulteetor. ER
