Has LeBron's 8 Years with LA Lakers Been a Success or Failure?

No one knows for sure whether LeBron James' tenure as a Los Angeles Laker is over. And that sentence might extend to LeBron himself.

But after the Oklahoma City Thunder eliminated L.A., LeBron's contract with the team is over. The time to extend him came and went. When the NBA's free agency window opens in July, James will be available.

With Luka Dončić now the face of the franchise, there's a very real chance LeBron's time with the Lakers is done. And that's led some to wonder whether his eight years there were a success.

There may not be another organization in the NBA that is more firmly and consistently in the "title or bust" category. The Lakers have 17 championships. LeBron was only there for one. His team missed the playoffs twice in his eight years in L.A.

Relative to other Lakers legends, a single trophy certainly feels like a failure. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had five titles in purple and gold. Ditto for Magic Johnson. Shaquille O'Neal had three. Kobe Bryant had five. Even Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom had two each.

Of course, there's a lot of overlap with those names. Magic and Kareem got to play together. Kobe had Shaq. Pau and Odom had Kobe.

But LeBron spent most of his time with the Lakers playing with Anthony Davis (famously named one of the top 75 players in NBA history). This season, he had Luka (though he was hurt for the playoffs).

When you compare just LeBron's L.A. years with those of other Lakers legends, sure, you can maybe classify this run as a failure and not sound absurd while doing it.

But all of that ignores mountains of important context.

Luka's absence for this playoff run is no small thing. None of those other all-time Lakers could've collected the championships they did without their Hall of Fame running mates.

Stacking titles is harder in this era, too. With an international talent pool to draw from and a collective bargaining agreement that annihilates teams' ability to build dynasties, we're clearly in an era of parity. Not only has the NBA not had a repeat champion since 2018, but the seven titles since then have also gone to seven different teams.

And perhaps most importantly, LeBron joined the Lakers a few years past his prime. His age-34 campaign was his first one in LA. Kobe's last title came in his age-31 campaign. Magic's came in his age-28 campaign. Kareem won four from 34 to 40, but again, he had Magic piloting those teams.

The history of the league is almost completely devoid of organizations winning titles when their best player is in their mid- to late-30s. And LeBron has now played for the Lakers into his 40s.

Getting a single title, in this era, is a feat.

And yes, you can point to the fact that it came in "the bubble." That's important context, too. They may have helped an older team like the Lakers a little more, but every other team also benefited from that unique situation.

A championship is a championship.

Beyond that, individually, LeBron produced like a Hall of Famer during his Lakers years. He totaled 12,402 points, 3,808 assists, 3,680 rebounds, 552 steals and 297 blocks in those eight seasons. There are only 36 players in NBA history who hit all five of those marks in their entire careers. Twenty-eight of those players are either in the Hall or will be (and that's a conservative estimate).

LeBron also has eight All-Star appearances and seven All-NBA nods as a Laker. Only 56 players have more All-Star appearances for their entire careers. Only 33 have more All-NBA nods for their entire careers.

LeBron has, at the very least, a borderline Hall of Fame resume, based on nothing but those eight seasons as a Laker. And he put it together from age 34 to 41!

That's absurd.

Lakers fans may be a little spoiled. LeBron fans may be too (he won three titles before he got to L.A.). Lakers and LeBron haters have years of experience spinning his successes into failures.

But the fact is that LeBron won a championship and was ridiculously productive (25.9 points, 7.9 assists and 7.7 rebounds in eight years with L.A.), at an age when most players are either out of the league or significantly diminished and in an era when winning two titles is near impossible.

Was LeBron's time with the Lakers a success? Absolutely.