LeBron James frustrated with Lakers: I don't want to play basketball for fun!
In signing a contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers through the summer of 2024, LeBron James promised and demonstrated his determination to get the team back into a competitive position as soon as possible. This is expressed in two ways: One is playing on the field and the other is giving feedback on the transfer target.
It is not clear how much influence James has on the team leadership, only know that the Lakers remain motionless and have not brought about any changes to the roster.
Led by president Rob Pelinka, the Lakers leadership decided to step the fine line between competing immediately and retaining valuable assets for the long haul (picks and salary flexibility). ).
They try to wait for the perfect deal to achieve both goals at the same time. However, the more perfect something is, the less likely it is and the result is a Lakers collective with many holes.
Plus the injury problem every year, the purple-yellow shirt team fell to 13th place out of a total of 15 teams in the West. Particularly LeBron James still competes like a machine against age, all just to let his efforts pour into the river and the sea.
Expressing frustration after losing to the Miami Heat just before his 38th birthday, LeBron James made it public that he no longer wanted to play basketball the way it is now.
“I think about how much longer I will be able to play. And I thought about how I don't want to end my playing career like this," LeBron said of the team's poor form so far this season.
“At this stage, I no longer want to play basketball just to play basketball for fun. It was never in my DNA. I still want to play at the highest level, I still want to compete for the championship.
I used to be a champion and I want to keep winning. I want to do my best to have a chance to compete and aim for the gold cup. It has always been my passion.”
This is probably the first wake-up call that LeBron James has made publicly available to the press, directed towards the Los Angeles Lakers.
During his career, he went through difficult periods in terms of collective success. However, LeBron has never had to compete with such a bad overall record, including the period he "started" with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Not counting this season's season, James has twice missed the Playoffs and was once eliminated in the first round of the postseason period, all of which are the first times of the "king." As for this Regular Season, LeBron still shows. leader, averaging 27.8 points with 8.1 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game.
After Davis was injured, LeBron was always the top scorer in the game, but the Lakers only won once. Looking further in the last 13 games, the Lakers have only 4 wins.
LeBron James' contract with the Los Angeles Lakers is valid until the end of the 2023-24 season. However, nothing is certain about the future of the "king" after his sharing as quoted above.
LeBron and his teammates' next appearance is a trip to State Farm Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks. The match takes place at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday December 31 (right on LeBron James's birthday in US time).
