“It’s all about staying in Los Angeles” NBA Analysts blatantly suggest LeBron James’ first priority is not to win anymore championships
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LeBron James and Rob Parker
Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James reached an agreement over the contract extension. James has reportedly signed a two-year, $97.1 million deal with a player option for the 2024-25 season. The news was made public in mid-week and the Laker-nation seemed excited with the same. LeBron’s stay with the franchises surely uplifts their chances of winning another trophy at the moment. But one NBA analyst radically differs the opinion. Rob Parker believes that “The King” no longer cares about winning championships if he is staying with Los Angeles Lakers.
LeBron’s contract extension attracted many different views from the NBA world. Many appreciated the efforts to commit to the Lakers’ vision, while some argued that he could have taken lesser money. Some analysts put a question mark over the “player option” and hint at Bronny’s incoming. On a recent episode of “The Odd Couple” podcast, Fox Sports’ Rob Parker and Andy Furman discussed James’ decision to extend with the Lakers. Parker put forward a very different angle in the extension scenario.
The 58-year-old analyst thinks James no longer cares about winning and only wants to stay in Los Angeles. He said, “He is staying in Los Angeles not because he has another chance to win another championship with the group that he’s with. It’s because he loves the sunshine. His businesses have flourished. His family loves living in Southern California.”
Can LeBron James and Los Angeles Lakers win the 2023 NBA title?
Winning an NBA title is every franchise and its fan base’s dream. Los Angeles Lakers have been consistent enough to win it the most times in the league – 17. Still, they are hungry for more, and extending LeBron’s contract certainly helps their cause. But LeBron alone can’t deliver a title for the team and understanding this, the Lakers are trying hard to assemble a contender team around 4-time NBA champion LBJ.
The Lakers made some changes this offseason. They replaced head coach Frank Vogel with Darvin Ham. They also got younger by signing several free agent role players like Thomas Bryant, Juan Toscano-Anderson, and Lonnie Walker IV. They shed away some of the older legs like Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, and Kent Bazemore. Over that the Lakers are also still trying to trade struggling megastar Russell Westbrook, with many other trade options in mind.
But Rob Parker doesn’t see a huge change in the Lakers’ fortune. Slamming LeBron’s decision, he added, “This is not about the Lakers and trying to win. He saw this movie. It flopped at the box office, it should have gone straight to DVD. You’re bringing back the same group. He should run from Anthony Davis, he can’t stay healthy.”
2020 NBA Champion team did struggle in the following 2 seasons and health impacted their run in those 2 seasons, but staying optimistic, Anthony Davis has been working hard on his fitness, while Laker’s front office is also doing all they can to add ‘meaningful’ pieces around their star pair. In the NBA’s offseason power rankings, the Lakers are ninth in the Western Conference. They still lack perimeter defenders and shooters.
As for the Lakers, the remainder of this summer will tell us whether this team can rebound from a 49-loss season. Pressure is on general manager Rob Pelinka. That’s for sure. It would be very early to predict any negative future for the team, especially with LeBron James on the team.
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Kunal Chawda
(600 Articles Published)