I just dont think Lebron is close to being fully healthy. Add to it he's 40 and it's noticeable.
In an ideal situation he's the 3rd option. But reaves isn't on that level to be the 2nd option.
I think he played great aside from a chunk in the 4Q.
But i dont buy he's recovered from that groin.
Yup. No matter what happens this post-season…ideally he should really be the third option going forward. He has stretches where he looks good as a second option but his body can’t sustain that level throughout the season.
Take a paycut, bring in a legit 2nd option and a decent center and we’ll be rolling. How likely is all that? Not very, but one can hope….
The pay is the problem. He is the highest paid player.
I believe he’ll take a paycut if there’s a path to legitimately bolster the team, if there isn’t, he’ll take whatever Jeanie throws at him.
The only pay cut he can take is the number that will enable us to use full MLE since we are over the cap team.
I just dont think Lebron is close to being fully healthy. Add to it he's 40 and it's noticeable.
In an ideal situation he's the 3rd option. But reaves isn't on that level to be the 2nd option.
I think he played great aside from a chunk in the 4Q.
But i dont buy he's recovered from that groin.
Yup. No matter what happens this post-season…ideally he should really be the third option going forward. He has stretches where he looks good as a second option but his body can’t sustain that level throughout the season.
Take a paycut, bring in a legit 2nd option and a decent center and we’ll be rolling. How likely is all that? Not very, but one can hope….
The pay is the problem. He is the highest paid player.
I believe he’ll take a paycut if there’s a path to legitimately bolster the team, if there isn’t, he’ll take whatever Jeanie throws at him.
The only pay cut he can take is the number that will enable us to use full MLE since we are over the cap team.
And only legitimate shot at getting a better #2 option next to Luka are either by trading Lebron, or AR along with fillers and picks.
Lakers can't really fully build around Luka until the 2026 offseason... Both Luka and AR most likely get their extensions that year also.
I just dont think Lebron is close to being fully healthy. Add to it he's 40 and it's noticeable.
In an ideal situation he's the 3rd option. But reaves isn't on that level to be the 2nd option.
I think he played great aside from a chunk in the 4Q.
But i dont buy he's recovered from that groin.
Yup. No matter what happens this post-season…ideally he should really be the third option going forward. He has stretches where he looks good as a second option but his body can’t sustain that level throughout the season.
Take a paycut, bring in a legit 2nd option and a decent center and we’ll be rolling. How likely is all that? Not very, but one can hope….
The pay is the problem. He is the highest paid player.
I believe he’ll take a paycut if there’s a path to legitimately bolster the team, if there isn’t, he’ll take whatever Jeanie throws at him.
Well he can just opt in. I hope Jeanie/Rob have the balls to basically let him know they’d prefer if he just opt out. If we offer ANOTHER 1 year on top of next year? We are (bleep).
Every damn year since the '20 ring either LeBron or AD was injured, hobbled, or whatever come playoff time. I don't want to hear about Kawhi "if a coulda", we live in the same world. Half the time we have no info on what's going on but it's clear something is. It's what we signed up for. Now no AD and with Luka the new build around this off season is the time to start to tailor the team differently.
FWIW Luka has missed games in the 2022-23 season, was injured in a play in miss/lottery season that year, was injured in the 2024 NBA Finals, was injured also in their WCF run in 2021-22 when they went 2-1 without him.
Now you see we totally wouldn't flip the script on Luka. Basketball is a very physical game. Players get hurt. Unlike some, both Lebron and AD (and even Luka for that matter) have thus far avoided a season long/season ending injury. No one in basketball history has done what Lebron has from age 35-40-present.
Don't get me wrong, I was on the move on from Lebron wagon since 2022. I do see the limitations but some of these could have been avoided. I just don't think people realize how limited a GM we have to work with as well. Without signing Lebron in 2018, the Lakers would have nothing to show for a very mediocre FO. No Lebron, means no AD. No title. No AD, means no Luka. Nico wanted a star back. There is no Luka without Lebron. It all started with Bron signing in 2018.
Finally - playoff games played in a Laker jersey. Lebron has missed 0 games. That's incredible, IMO. There's a lot of things to complain about Lebron at times. His dedication to playing is not one of them. To even compare his to Kawhi's injury/games missed situation is laughable.
To me, when you sign a player of Bron's age and level when we did. You don't rely on them the way you would when you sign a Shaq in 1996 or Miami signed a Lebron in 2010. Look at Boston. They can easily win playoff games without Tatum. Their RS, they easily won 60+ without Porzingis, Tatum, Brown, Holiday, White (their core) even playing many games together. An elite FO would have done better. Built a better deeper more balanced team. That's not on Lebron. It also won't be on Luka, and it certainly wasn't on AD. Fans should eventually hold Pelinka to the same standard they do the franchise HOF players.
I think the reality is that every team will have some kind of flaw. Getting a second star for Luka is unrealistic unless you want to gut depth -- for example, a consolidating trade of Reaves/Knecht/'29FRP + matching salaries (Kleber, Vanderbilt are $21M of mostly useless salary but could give up Vincent or Rui if the team doesn't want Vando's long term salary) is a competitive offer for a distressed second option (not a Giannis type).
But I don't think that's required. Luka is a superstar. Reaves and LeBron are good enough as second options. What we really just could use is a center and PoA defender (basically, someone to fill the AD and Christie roles lol). Every team is going to have some flaws, it's the nature of roster building! If LeBron takes a paycut giving the Lakers even more depth, then you can't be mad about the production most of the rostered players are giving you for their salary (with the exception of Vando)
Truth is Bron deserves every bit of his bag…and then some. Doing this $hit for this long is unnatural. When we didn’t have a PG pre-DLo, he filled that role as our point forward. When we didn’t have capable 3pt shooting, he worked on adding that to his bag to help fill that void. When we made the surprise trade for Luka, he made that pairing work by willingly playing offball more. And now that Hayes is struggling to stay on the court, he’s taken on DC duties by QB’n our defense at the small ball center spot. We win game 2 primarily due to that aspect (along with the Wolves getting in foul trouble). And if we want to win this series, it has to come to that, which means our offensive efficiency will struggle some…but so be it!
To expect Bron to take a haircut this offseason isn’t fair. His GM has unfairly failed dude time and time again during his tenure here, and that MFer just got another bag. Wtf for? Meanwhile Bron fully deserves the bag, even at this age. That being said, he knows these are the final moments of his career and I’m sure he wants to end it with another run at the Finals, so hopefully he does take a cut. But I wouldn’t be mad at him, if he doesn’t. _________________ Not familiar with the salary cap/CBA rules & how it impacts our Lakers?
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Bron can play through this groin just like our man Kobe did during the 2010 season when he injured his groin and aggravated it the point it was swollen as all hell and also played through a bad hamstring strain, bone on bone knee issues where he hardly looked like he could jump during that OKC series and of course the messed up fingers.
If Kobe can lead us to a title despite all those injuries that year, Bron can lead us to a title with this injury.
Bron can play through this groin just like our man Kobe did during the 2010 season when he injured his groin and aggravated it the point it was swollen as all hell and also played through a bad hamstring strain, bone on bone knee issues where he hardly looked like he could jump during that OKC series and of course the messed up fingers.
If Kobe can lead us to a title despite all those injuries that year, Bron can lead us to a title with this injury.
Lebron is 10 years older than that Kobe. I’m not sure Lebrons body can even hold up the entire playoffs at this stage
Bron can play through this groin just like our man Kobe did during the 2010 season when he injured his groin and aggravated it the point it was swollen as all hell and also played through a bad hamstring strain, bone on bone knee issues where he hardly looked like he could jump during that OKC series and of course the messed up fingers.
If Kobe can lead us to a title despite all those injuries that year, Bron can lead us to a title with this injury.
Lebron is 10 years older than that Kobe. I’m not sure Lebrons body can even hold up the entire playoffs at this stage
I trust Bron.....I think this groin thing will get better with time the further we go in the playoffs. It did for Kobe where he hurt his groin early that year, aggravated it, continued to play through it and eventually the groin issue went away with the other issues then popping up. He is 10 years older than Kobe but Im not so sure his body at 40 is worse than Kobe's at 30. For one Bron's body is a lot more durable than Kobe's was but also throughout their careers, Kobe's body took a much bigger beating that were more physically debilitating that Kobe just played through than Lebron did.
Bron can play through this groin just like our man Kobe did during the 2010 season when he injured his groin and aggravated it the point it was swollen as all hell and also played through a bad hamstring strain, bone on bone knee issues where he hardly looked like he could jump during that OKC series and of course the messed up fingers.
If Kobe can lead us to a title despite all those injuries that year, Bron can lead us to a title with this injury.
Lebron is 10 years older than that Kobe. I’m not sure Lebrons body can even hold up the entire playoffs at this stage
I trust Bron.....I think this groin thing will get better with time the further we go in the playoffs. It did for Kobe where he hurt his groin early that year, aggravated it, continued to play through it and eventually the groin issue went away with the other issues then popping up. He is 10 years older than Kobe but Im not so sure his body at 40 is worse than Kobe's at 30. For one Bron's body is a lot more durable than Kobe's was but also throughout their careers, Kobe's body took a much bigger beating that were more physically debilitating that Kobe just played through than Lebron did.
For me it’s more about stamina. LeBron doesn’t have the legs to go hard the whole game anymore. To his credit he’s been busting his ass on defense but it’s affecting his ability to dominate on offense.
I guess we’ll find out, when we only have one day of rest inbetween games.
To me that defense was clutch and the most important part of his game now in terms of helping the Lakers win. It was so refreshing to know he could still play that level of defense even with the groin issue. If he provides 20-22 PPG on top of that with 10 boards, Im cool with that. Its on Austin's ass to get his motor and consistency going and start looking like the modern day Jerry West like he has at times. Luka keep doing Luka. Lebron being the #3 offensive option I think is more than OK for all the positives that he brings on defense and accounting for his age and injury. Austin needs to step up
He's not the same prolific playoff scorer but he seems to have transitioned his impact more toward the defensive end. If he can start making some threes, spacing the floor for Luka/Reaves, then all good.
Joined: 19 Nov 2007 Posts: 4843 Location: Lake Nacimiento
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2025 1:36 pm Post subject:
PenG_ wrote:
He's not the same prolific playoff scorer but he seems to have transitioned his impact more toward the defensive end. If he can start making some threes, spacing the floor for Luka/Reaves, then all good.
Honestly, if they play anywhere close to as good defense as Game 2 and two of Luka/Bron/AR are hitting the 3 it's lights out for Minnesota imo. Luka has been good/great but Bron and AR are shooting about 20% each on 12 combined 3's a game. With the Defense they're playing I don't expect elite level numbers but it would be nice to see them end the series in the 30+% range which would likely mean we ended this series in 5 games and le crotch gets some much needed extra rest.
That groin injury occurred way too close to the playoffs. Plus, being 40 means it takes longer to recover. Hopefully, we get thru the Wolves and he will fully recover by then. We can only hope. _________________ As long as Pelinka is our GM, we will not win another championship.
If the Lakers won a championship by 2028, then I would tattoo "Pelinka is the greatest GM ever" on my left forearm.
Bron can play through this groin just like our man Kobe did during the 2010 season when he injured his groin and aggravated it the point it was swollen as all hell and also played through a bad hamstring strain, bone on bone knee issues where he hardly looked like he could jump during that OKC series and of course the messed up fingers.
If Kobe can lead us to a title despite all those injuries that year, Bron can lead us to a title with this injury.
We go as far as Luka takes us not a 40 year old Lebron.
I was watching defensive breakdown of game 2. And what i took away from it is that Lebron is a genius. It sucks that he's 40. Even a 38 year old Lebron would be such a massive difference from the 40 year old one.
But this dude should honestly consider coaching after retirement. He's way too smart to not give more to the game and players post retirement. I'd honestly love it if he'd be an assistant for the lakers. Wont ever happen because he's too high profile but seriously the amount of basketball knowledge this dude has is next level.
Bron laughing with Conley and Ant during the challenge then throws up a Westbrick off the side of the backboard, this dude don't got that killer in him anymore. It's all sentimental now
Bron laughing with Conley and Ant during the challenge then throws up a Westbrick off the side of the backboard, this dude don't got that killer in him anymore. It's all sentimental now
Get out of here with that low effort trolling. LeBron James was the only reason that game wasnt a 30 point Minny blowout.
Bron laughing with Conley and Ant during the challenge then throws up a Westbrick off the side of the backboard, this dude don't got that killer in him anymore. It's all sentimental now
Get out of here with that low effort trolling. LeBron James was the only reason that game wasnt a 30 point Minny blowout.
I'm just saying that sequence didn't sit well with me, and I'm sure others as well. This is the playoffs, not the regular season, we should be out for blood.
Bron laughing with Conley and Ant during the challenge then throws up a Westbrick off the side of the backboard, this dude don't got that killer in him anymore. It's all sentimental now
Get out of here with that low effort trolling. LeBron James was the only reason that game wasnt a 30 point Minny blowout.
I'm just saying that sequence didn't sit well with me, and I'm sure others as well. This is the playoffs, not the regular season, we should be out for blood.
Bron was cooking no doubt
He literally blocked Ant soon after that. So he was clearly still trying to win.
Nice to see LeBron play at a high level. If Luka and LeBron figure out how to play well together at the same time, the Lakers can go far in the playoffs.
If not, they're going out this series. Let's hope the Luka stomach issue doesn't linger into next game.
Why was he laughing and joking with Ant and Conley during a closely contested playoff game on national TV? Not a good look, this is why NBA has gone down the hills. There are no rivalries anymore, everyone is buddy buddy to each other.
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