In a conversation with the media this weekend, Lakers superstar LeBron James spoke honestly about the state of his team heading into a brand new season. LeBron noted several areas of improvement for the club and confirmed that he and his teammates are in a great spot after the offseason and training camp.
Interviewer: “What do you think is the biggest leap forward you’d like to see from now until you start the season up?”
LeBron James: “Just get better. It’s new for all of us. The coaching staff is bringing a new system to us and the players are trying to implement that to the court. Every day we want to see if we can take a step forward in our process and how we approach the game. It’s not who’s playing on the floor it’s how we play. We have a system we want to play, we have things that we want to do, and we have to be very cerebral on how we do them and very intentional on how we do them.”
Interviewer: “In terms of chemistry and vibes how would you describe that?”
LeBron James: “Oh we’re good. This is a good team to be a part of.”
New head coach JJ Redick has made it clear that he prioritizes teamwork, preparation, and attention to detail over flashiness. Rather than playing for themselves, players are encouraged to play for each other even if it means sacrificing your own statistics.
Everything with Redick so far has been more methodical, analytical, and complex than anything we’ve seen from the Lakers in years. Compared to Darvin Ham, who had his players lost during games, Redick is going to great lengths to ensure that each player is set up for success.
In many ways, it’s been a different world for the Lakers both on the court and in the locker room. Over the past two seasons, the franchise has been struggling to keep up as chaos and dysfunction have reigned supreme. During the Russell Westbrook era, the situation got so toxic that he was described as a “vampire” sucking the life out of the team.
Since trading Westbrook and installing Redick as head coach the vibes have been different for the Purple and Gold. LeBron has noticed and even his rookie son, Bronny, has picked up on the culture shift within the organization.
In LeBrons final seasons, the Lakers are determined to re-take their place at the top of the West and give the NBA legend the ending he deserves. With so much at stake, and being hopelessly outmatched in the West, it will take a nearly perfect effort for LeBron to take this Lakers team to the depths of the playoffs.
But if they just take it one game at a time, and improve wherever they can, it’ll be enough to give them a chance and that’s all LeBron James needs to pull off a miracle. Faith is strong for all Lakers players right now and they are all fully bought into the mission at hand.
