lalkding

It will start soon enough. If LeBron James looks a pinky toe slow, if
                the Lakers drop a couple of these 2020-21 games coming Ferrari-fast on the heels of the Lakers’ 2019-20
                title, if he doesn’t have enough red in his Christmas Day game sneakers, the critics will not wait to
                pounce.

As eye-opening an experience as it has been for Anthony Davis to team up with James and learn the ways
                of such a consistent performer and regular winner, consider one more way it has been a brow-raising
                revelation for Davis:
                “I know he gets criticized,” Davis said of James, “more than any basketball player ever.”

What is beyond debate is that James spends his days and years accomplishing—especially this season,
                which featured him at age 35 poetically playing 35 minutes per game as the regular-season MVP runner-up,
                then becoming the second-oldest NBA Finals MVP ever (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was 38 in 1985).

James heard enough rumblings entering the season to issue himself the #WashedKing challenge. No one else
                could’ve been eligible to participate. And he passed the test at a level only he could.

none

It has been a turbulent time for us all in the basic ways reflected by
                the NBA juggling issues of social injustice inside a pandemic-driven bubble. But what a wild ride the
                season was especially for James.

Consider how normal it’d be for a player’s season to be summed up neatly and impressively by saying he
                led the league in assists for the first time. A great achievement for any point guard … although James
                isn’t truly a point guard, of course.

It’s simplistic even to say James’ season went from one legacy bookend—filming Space Jam: A New
                Legacy—to another, carrying the Lakers’ “Leave a Legacy” mandate to the NBA championship. His didn’t
                just prance where his grass was greener. He planted seeds for growth all over the place.

Quick recap: From June to September 2019, James was on the movie set, including what co-star Don Cheadle
                told ESPN were 14-hour work days aside from James’ basketball training. From September to March, James
                played his game—while also navigating a political situation when the Lakers were in China, furthering an
                entertainment empire that promotes his heartfelt community-oriented passion projects such as allowing
                college athletes to earn money or his I PROMISE School and all its affiliated programs. He also steadied
                the Lakers’ grieving organization upon Kobe Bryant’s death. By July, James was serving as undisputed
                spokesman as the NBA and players worked through the bubble experiment, and he from there led an
                impactful More Than a Vote initiative in a key election year.

Volley it back and forth, if you wish, the simplistic question whether any basketball player before or
                after is greater than James.

What needs to be truly understood is how impossible it is even to imagine anyone could be more “more
                than an athlete” than James is in our world today.

It’s not his way to say, “You’ll miss me when I’m gone.” But on the heels of everything mentioned above
                and delivering a championship in just his second Lakers season, it’s a time when we really should stop
                and smell this rose.

When you do so much, you create a lot that others can criticize. The
                safer way is to play basketball and just go home to eat your tacos on Tuesday quietly.

At heart, though, James is a dreamer. He believes the uncommon is within his reach. Because he opens his
                mind, he becomes better educated on that uncommon. Then at that point, it isn’t just in his reach; it’s
                in his wheelhouse.

He’s the best kind of dreamer, the one who believes his dreams are calls to action. Somehow, James finds
                the energy to follow through on so much action—from beloved cartoon movie sequels to innovative social
                reform.

But that is, if you get right down to it, the most common thread when you tie the great ones together.
                Threads might be about fashion in one era and about social media in another, but those determined to do
                something can get results at any time, in any place.

Think about how much this list of names has done beyond playing basketball: James, Bryant, Shaquille
                O’Neal, James Worthy, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West.

They want to make things happen. They need to leave that legacy. They insist on being true to that
                dreamer within.

James still yearned for more, going west to live up to the Lakers’ brand that he’d always put on a
                pedestal. The transition was a struggle in various ways, even as basic as adapting to the Pacific time
                zone for the first time in his life. As he is determined to do, James did adapt.

Given his emphatic statement about James being the most criticized of
                all time, Davis sees the pressure that James shoulders. Davis also hears advice directly from James on
                how to handle it. That’s why Davis reports about his own pressures: “He makes it a lot easier for me.”

James does not lack for appreciation from those alongside him now. They are the ones who really know the
                level of biomechanics and bounce passes, the responsibility and reads. As beautiful from an outside
                perspective as we might admiringly see what James draws up for himself and his teammates, only the inner
                circle truly understands when such an artistic genius colors so vibrantly and sharply inside the lines.

“If you think you know, you don’t know, OK?” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “Until you’re around him
                every day, you’re coaching him, you’re seeing his mind, you’re seeing his adjustments, seeing the way he
                leads the group. You think you know. You don’t know.”

Find inspiration in the pregame chalk toss, revived with the Lakers this season after about a four-year
                layoff. Admire how his work ethic with the lovely deep three enhances his ability to keep truckin’ to
                the rack, as always, with lunchpail and hard hat. Enjoy the ride through iconic Warner Bros.
                motion-picture worlds when LeBron and Bugs Bunny release their movie next year.

Understand how absolutely no one else could have said the words that this community needed to hear
                before the Lakers’ first game upon Bryant’s death.

The memorial service that was put together later was a wonderful tribute. James’ speech came almost a month
                earlier, when the wound was still so raw. Standing on the Lakers’ logo at center court of Staples Center
                in those white Nike Kobe 1 Protro sneakers from Bryant’s 81-point game, James’ free-flow speech was the
                hug we needed from someone who really understood him. It was so true and tight that we practically could
                feel James’ heartbeat through the No. 24 jersey covering his chest.

It remains hard to believe that James passed Bryant on the all-time scoring list the very night before
                Bryant’s death. James gushed about Bryant for nearly five continuous minutes late that night in
                Philadelphia. He actually used the word “immortal” to describe Bryant.

For as neatly and effectively as James was able to check off boxes on his lengthy to-do list, this
                season was the ultimate experience to remind him and us all: Stuff happens.

It always does. And the stuff brings unforeseen challenges to go with the known ones we already have to
                steel ourselves to tackle.

Sometimes those challenges are too much for us. That’s one reason some resent James when he is so often
                able to meet his challenges.

Kevin Ding is an independent sports writer, and the statements and views
            expressed by him do not necessarily represent the views of the
            Los Angeles Lakers.

the-point-an-essay-on-appreciating-lebron-james

The Point: An Essay On Appreciating LeBron James

Kevin Ding is an independent sports writer, and the statements and views
      expressed by him do not necessarily represent the views of the
      Los Angeles Lakers.

the-point-lakers-understood-the-value-of-consistency-especially-in-volatile-season

The Point: Lakers Understood the Value of Consistency—Especially in Volatile Season

We spend part of our days trying to
        inspire others onward, part of our days trying to make others proud of
        us. Much of that time we don’t even know how others are being affected
        by us.

It didn’t stop Adam Silver from trying to make David Stern proud with
        the bold, ultimately immaculate NBA bubble model. Or Jeanie Buss from
        trying to make Jerry Buss proud with the championship that her father
        dearly coveted for the Lakers to tie the Celtics at 17.

This Lakers team, featuring so many guys fortunate enough to be directly
        inspired by Kobe Bryant, deeply understood the meaning of trying to make
        him proud in this year of his death. In doing so, it meant inspiring
        others everywhere—same as whenever Bryant or other greats won NBA
        titles, urging us all toward our own excellence.

To understand why it meant so much for Anthony Davis to make Bryant
        proud, you have to understand it goes beyond their personal
        relationship.

Yes, Bryant welcomed Davis post-trade to the Lakers’ family. Yes, before
        that Bryant counseled Davis how it was more important for a leader to be
        respected than liked. Yes, before that Bryant was the elder statesman on
        the 2012 U.S. Olympic team who appreciated the 19-year-old Davis’ wide
        eyes signaled natural curiosity—Bryant’s favorite quality in people—as
        opposed to fear.

However, it goes back to Davis as a boy on the South Side of Chicago,
        when he was inspired by Bryant in ways Bryant couldn’t possibly know. It
        was a grandfather and grandson, one passing on admiration and
        inspiration to the other. On the porch was their own private Kobe fan
        club, same as countless others all around the world.

Here’s howDavis explained it
        back in 2015, when he got a tattoo to honor Lamont Eberhardt, his mom’s
        dad who died in 2010—the year of the Lakers’ last previous title: “I
        looked up to him. Every day I would go to his house and we would just
        talk basketball. He always pushed me. He always talked about Kobe, Kobe,
        Kobe. He always wanted to make me go out there and—I don’t want to say
        be better, but—do some of the same things [Kobe] did.”

A newly minted NBA champion, Davis now has. He pushed through every
        ache, flat-out ignored real injuries and played every playoff game. He
        hit a winning shot in the Western Conference Finals that sparked kids
        everywhere to re-enact it and imagine being A.D. (even if A.D. still
        yelled out “Kobe” after making it).

Then Davis played the kind of max-effort defense that has to make
        talented players everywhere, including his fellow NBA stars,
        re-evaluate how much energy can and should be poured into defense if you
        want to win it all.

It was the first time in the NBA’s
        74-year history that the championship was held at a single site. Still,
        the 2020 playoff season might’ve had greater reach than any. To borrow
        the words of the day, this one hit different. The statements that the
        players regularly made about social injustice showed deep unity in the
        midst of their fierce competition.

Years from now, when the photos or videos are viewed, people will
        wonder, “Why wasn’t this championship played in a real NBA arena? Why
        was “Black Lives Matter” written on the court? What did those particular
        messages on the backs of the jerseys mean?”

Healthy discussion will ensue, and the Lakers are tied to that legacy.
        Their players fulfilled their agenda on two epic fronts. And that’s not
        even accounting for the unheard-of pandemic backdrop that left James
        writing a verbal thank-you card on championship night to Apple pioneer
        Steve Jobs.

“Big-time shoutout to the late, great Steve Jobs,” James said after the
        Lakers’ nearly hundred days of isolation, “because without him, without
        his vision, those FaceTime calls wouldn’t be possible.”

Even though James’ legacy is undeniably furthered by a fourth NBA
        championship, he spent the final moments of the last game immersed in
        how much of Davis’ legacy was being laid.

Because they share what Davis terms “true friendship,” James
        good-naturedly ribbed Davis for his emotions in the moment.

But behind the veil of those words, James was actually seeing his own
        soul when he first won an NBA title.

“Just the excitement. The ‘I can't believe this.’ I definitely saw
        myself: [age] 27 LeBron, 27 A.D.,” James said. “I definitely saw myself
        in that. And what it did for me in my career? It basically let me know
        that the work I put in on my craft, and the way I play the game, how I
        was taught to play the game when I picked up a basketball when I was 8
        years old, it’s OK to play that way and be able to win.

“No matter how many people tell you: ‘You should maybe shoot more, you
        should maybe do this more, you should maybe be like him more,’ it let me
        know that the way I play basketball and the way I was taught to play
        basketball is the right way to play it, because you do see results.

“And then it just continues to boost your confidence. Not saying that
        A.D. doesn't already have confidence, but it takes it to another level.”

James’ make-the-right-play mindset by now is more accurately described
        as basketball transformation than mere inspiration. The game has shifted
        that materially through his style. How much of the Lakers’ overall
        harmony should be attributed to James’ on-court generosity is impossible
        to quantify, but he definitely led this horse to water.

And it definitely drank: James and Davis were the first pair of
        teammates in NBA history to average 25-plus points while shooting at
        least 50 percent from the field over an entire postseason (minimum six
        games).

What James added foremost to his personal legacy was reinforcing his
        status as an overachiever, even with all the initial outrageous
        expectations and all the past accomplishments.

“No matter what I’ve done in my career to this point, there’s still
        little rumblings of doubt or comparing me to the history of the game and
        ‘Has he done this? Has he done that?’ James said. “So having that in my
        head, having that in my mind, saying to myself, ‘Why not still have
        something to prove?’ I think it fuels me.”

Meanwhile, less seasoned players such as Alex Caruso, Kyle Kuzma and
        Kentavious Caldwell-Pope went through lean years with the Lakers but
        could preen in altogether different images as Lakers champions now.
        Once-heralded veterans such as Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard
        unequivocally changed the twisted storylines that cast them as players
        unable to maximize team-first roles.

“A couple years ago I said, ‘I am a champion,’ and people laughed,”
        Howard said. “It wasn’t being a champion of a basketball game, but a
        champion in life—knowing that there’s many times that we all fail and I
        fail, but instead of folding and laying down, a champ gets back up. I’m
        just happy to celebrate this moment with the Lakers and Laker nation and
        my teammates. It’s been an amazing journey for all of us.”

As much chagrin as there was when they
        didn’t win Game 5 in the Kobe-designed “Black Mamba” uniforms, the
        Lakers instead won Game 6 and commemorated their white uniforms.

Any student of recent Lakers history should remember the only other
        truly significant moment for the Lakers in white: Bryant’s 81-point
        game.

But many might not recall that Jeanie Buss, while her father was still
        in charge, was instrumental in the 2002 creation of those white
        uniforms. Those seeking poetry with their legacy will appreciate the
        symbolism at work in the Lakers winning in white: Jeanie’s breakthrough
        as the NBA’s first female championship owner certainly qualifies as
        inspiration on its own.

Truth be told, the Lakers were initially trying to honor another of
        their legends with those white uniforms. It was the year after
        broadcaster Chick Hearn’s death, and with the awareness that Hearn’s
        100th birthday would’ve landed on a Sunday, the Lakers elected to wear
        white for all Sunday home games.

The beauty of being with the Lakers is that you can learn from and build
        upon all the greatness of those before you—if you are open to that.

“The true mark of a legacy,” Bryant said in December 2017 when the
        Lakers retired Nos. 8 and 24, “is how it affects the next generation.”

The fact that both James and Davis added tattoos in honor of Bryant just
        days after his death in January is a testament to how much the current
        Lakers stars cared about continuing Bryant’s legacy.

The best way, though, to make others proud or inspired is simply to stay
        true to the legacy that is your own.

Davis already had a tattoo on his shoulder. It features his late
        grandfather’s smiling face with the words, “Rest Up, Champ.”

the-point-they-spoke-their-message-won-their-title-and-left-their-legacy

The Point: They Spoke Their Message, Won Their Title and Left Their Legacy

They set themselves up with plenty of time to digest the magnitude of their
  accomplishment in those last game moments by building the second-largest
  halftime lead in the NBA Finals history. The ending was a long time coming in
  that sense—and in many other ways, too. After the final buzzer and just before
  the confetti flew, LeBron James reveled in the embraces of teammates on the
  court, and Anthony Davis sat alone nearby with his eyes buried in a towel.

Led by James and Davis in their first season together, the Lakers won the 2020
  NBA championship Sunday with a 106-93 rout of the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the
  NBA Finals. It was a unique accomplishment for this tightly knit group
  isolated for 95 consecutive days in Florida, playing a season that covered
  more than a calendar year because of the pandemic.

James spoke afterward about the incomparable elation of seeing teammates
  become champions—and explained how his personal sentiment is shaped by how
  long his journey goes.

“Live about the process,” James said, “and see the results. … We all live for
  that moment.”

It was a long time coming also for the legions of Lakers fans, who are frankly
  unaccustomed to going a decade without an NBA championship and rejoicing at
  the return to glory now.

The Lakers’ only other such drought in the past 50 years started after their
  1987-88 NBA championship won in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s age-40 season, the
  penultimate season of his career. It’s fair to start wondering whether James,
  who turns 36 in December, can produce that kind of excellence in longevity. It
  would likely see him overtake Abdul-Jabbar as the league’s all-time leading
  scorer despite losing much of 2019 to injury and 2020 to the pandemic.

James was this team’s true captain, offering “must-win” text messages to
  teammates to spur their Game 4 and Game 6 victories. He delivered 28 points,
  14 rebounds and 10 assists against just one turnover Sunday after urging his
  teammates to “treat it like it was Game 7.”

James made the most of this entire bubble opportunity the NBA created to
  finish his second Lakers season. He became the only players besides
  Abdul-Jabbar and legendary Boston Celtics Bill Russell and Sam Jones to appear
  in 10 NBA Finals series. Once there, he earned his fourth Bill Russell NBA
  Finals MVP award, but his first with the Lakers—a distinction that matters to
  him.

James came via free agency to join the list of great Lakers champions rather
  than shiver in fear of their shadow. It’s why in a long embrace with Lakers
  governor Jeanie Buss on the court Sunday that James said he offered this
  sentiment: “I’m proud to be a Laker.”

It’s why Buss said on the Spectrum SportsNet postgame show about James: “A
  Laker through and through.”

Unlike many of his peers who went anti-bandwagon when it came to successful
  franchises, James has long been a fan of the New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys
  and Lakers.

James had said last week that it’s particularly meaningful for him to help
  Buss to her first championship as Lakers governor. He referred to her as “an
  incredible owner” and “a powerful woman.”

“I’m just honored to be a part of it,” James said. “I love the history of the
  game, and I've read so much about Dr. Buss and his teams and his success. To
  be playing while his daughter is the owner of the team, I think is pretty
  cool.”

James averaged 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists in the NBA Finals in
  his 17th professional season.

“He’s the greatest player the basketball universe has ever seen,” Lakers coach
  Frank Vogel said Sunday night.

The clinching victory showcased several facets of the jewel that Vogel
  polished this season: players starring in their roles, bouncing back after any
  defeat, suffocating defense played till exhaustion.

Rajon Rondo had told everyone in the team meeting Saturday: “If we’re going to
  win a championship, it has to be with defense.”

That’s how the Lakers’ lead swelled to 28 points by halftime, with surprise
  starter Alex Caruso adding to the team’s perimeter agility.

The last time the Lakers won a title, Rondo was on the other other team. He is
  the only player on either the Lakers or Boston Celtics from the 2010 NBA
  Finals who is still an active player in the league—and on Sunday he again
  looked an awful lot like the same player as back then. Sharp with decisions
  and his finishes at the rim after puppeteer mastery in manipulating the Heat
  defense to create the openings he sought, Rondo finished with 19 points and
  four assists off the bench.

Davis added 18 points, but his all-out defense and 15 rebounds were crucial.
  As usual, it all revolved around Davis and James.

Recalling that previous lull in championships for the Lakers, after Magic
  Johnson led them to the 1988 title, it wasn’t until 2000 when the Lakers won
  again. It was because of what Shaquille O’Neal came to call in himself and
  Kobe Bryant the “greatest Laker one-two punch ever,” which is saying
  something.

Johnson, whose work in the front office with Rob Pelinka turned the direction
  of the franchise, helped bring James to town—and Pelinka did the deal to trade
  for Davis. The traditions of tremendous Lakers tandems and dominant big men
  certainly continued with this title. But Davis was someone who ranked first in
  the league in loose balls recovered while towering at the rim, too.

The harmony between the two set the tone for this team. James even said after
  winning the title: “I want A.D. to be better than me.”

“Respect. True friendship,“ said Davis, who won his first championship at age
  27—same as legendary winners James and Michael Jordan. “We’re just two guys
  who want to win. We were able to do it tonight.”

What they did was something Jerry Buss mentioned often wanting to accomplish:
  a 17th all-time title, matching the Celtics for the most in league history.
  The Lakers returned to the top, creating yet another formula for building a
  team around two stars, and committing to find an ultimate positive at a time
  in the world when there had been plenty of negative.

“It’s remarkable,” Kyle Kuzma said. “We are such a mentally tough team.
  Everybody sacrificed something for the betterment of the team.”

star-power-defense-lift-lakers-to-title-clinching-game-6-victory

Star power, defense lift Lakers to title-clinching Game 6 victory

the-point-lebron-and-a-d-remain-nba-finals-stars-but-teamwork-covers-this-lakers-sky

The Point: LeBron and A.D. Remain NBA Finals Stars, But Teamwork Covers This Lakers Sky

the-point-however-dark-the-days-lakers-have-brought-their-brightness-to-the-bubble

The Point: However Dark the Days, Lakers Have Brought Their Brightness to the Bubble

But even with that success, Davis is the guy who couldn’t wait to remind anyone who forgot: Remember when I missed that other game-winning three?!
              “Right before the hiatus, against the Brooklyn Nets: Same spot, slightly different play, and I missed the shot,” Davis said. “I was upset with myself, and he [James] said: ‘We’re going to live or die with you shooting that shot.’ “