Lakers' Reported Handling of LeBron, Luka Transition is Disrespectful Amid NBA Rumors
The Los Angeles Lakers are in the midst of a transition from one superstar to another as Lebron James nears the end of his playing career and Luka Dončić prepares to take over as the face of the organization.
The Lakers themselves have not so subtly begun the transition, with Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst of ESPN reporting on what that has looked like.
Their piece detailed a May 3 meeting involving Dončić, his manager Lara Beth Seager, general manager Rob Pelinka, and head coach JJ Redick, during which the star player was presented with a binder containing extensive plans for the team's future and building the team around him.
"That binder, with those offseason Lakers plans and longer-range strategies and dreams, used to be presented to James at meetings like these," the report read.
James was not invited.
The report also revealed that Dončić was informed of the team's sale before it happened, while James was notified only after news of the sale broke. Add to that the fact that the team did not at least offer James a contract extension, and you have an approach to the future that can best be described as disrespectful to the biggest star of this generation.
James is a generational player, the defining star of an entire era of professional basketball. He belongs in the conversation with Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and the other greatest players to ever lace a pair of sneakers.
He has been the central figure of the NBA, the league's face since he arrived straight out of high school in 2003 and a spokesman for the game in a way not dissimilar to Jordan.
There is an entire generation of fans for whom James has been the measuring stick and for this current Lakers squad, he has played at a high level despite and advancing age.
To be cast aside in favor of the shiny new toy, as if he was a veteran role player whose time is up whether he knows it or not, is both disrespectful and surprising. Even more so when you take into consideration that James brought the Lakers their first NBA title in a decade in 2020, regardless of the circumstances surrounding that COVID-19-impacted season.
In his age-40 season, James averaged 34.9 minutes, 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists, while shooting 51.3 percent from the paint and 37.6 percent from beyond the arc in 70 games.
He was still great, better than other, younger stars who would have been factored into succession plans with their respective teams.
A player whose star extends beyond the NBA, whose popularity and connection with fans is stronger than anything Dončić will likely be able to forge regardless of what his future looks like, James has earned more respect and consideration from the Lakers than he has received early in this transition.
