The King is coming to Los Angeles.
LeBron James — the alpha of the NBA and one of the greatest players of all-time — has decided to write the next chapter of his career in purple and gold ink.
James joins the Lakers on the heels of one of the greatest individual postseasons in NBA history.
During his journey to his eighth-straight NBA Finals, James led the postseason in scoring (34.0), double-doubles (15) and triple-doubles (four), while ranking second in assists (9.0).
Yet, somehow, even those colossal numbers don’t fully encapsulate LeBron’s dominance.
Though he is listed as a forward, the 6-foot-8, 250-pounder can play any position on the floor thanks to his all-encompassing skill set.
His playoff brilliance was mirrored in the regular season, when he ranked third in points (27.5) and second in assists (9.1), while playing all 82 games.
His primary weapon is a blend of speed and strength that the NBA had never seen before. A human battering ram, James is nigh-unstoppable with the ball in his hands, shooting a league-high 60.3 percent on drives — 4.9 percent better than second-place Jrue Holiday — and averaging the second-most points in isolation (6.1).
He has the entire package when it comes to attacking off the dribble: guard-like handles, pull-ups from mid- and 3-point range, crafty finishes (like hop steps and reverse layups), explosiveness at the rim, ambidexterity and the ability to draw fouls.
These skills, plus his world-class court vision (more on that later), make James elite in the pick-and-roll. He ranked among the 91st percentile of ball handlers during the regular season and 90th in the playoffs, based on points per possession.
For a Lakers team that struggled with its half-court offense last season, adding LeBron is like finding a vending machine in the desert.
While James is unbelievable with the ball in his hands, he will likely spend a good amount of time off the ball, considering the Lakers’ roster features two more gifted passers in Lonzo Ball and Rajon Rondo.
Fortunately for L.A., he thrives in those situations as well.
He shot 38.3 percent on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers — exactly the kind of looks he figures to get alongside Ball and Rondo. He led the league in points per possession on cuts (1.62), where his feel for the game and pure athleticism shined through.
Of course, the Lakers’ offense is about more than half-court production, as they ran the NBA’s second-fastest pace and scored the second-most fast-break points last year.
LeBron has never played on a team among the top 10 in pace, which is interesting considering how hopeless it is to try to derail him in transition.
Just ask Marcus Morris, who essentially tried to tackle James like the Monstars at the end of “Space Jam,” only to have him still power through for the and-1 bucket.
And for as much as Ball loves firing full-court outlet passes, imagine how high his QB rating will be once he has LeBron playing the part of Rob Gronkowski.
While James is certainly one of the most impressive scorers in the game, he is every bit as talented as a passer.
The Akron native has once-in-a-generation vision, allowing him to make just about every pass in the game.
A single player can’t stop James from getting to the rim without a help defender, leaving defenses vulnerable to drive-and-kicks. If even a tiny window is open, he is able to exploit it with a pocket pass.
In particular, James is a savant at running pick-and-rolls, using perfectly angled bounce passes to deliver dimes through forests of opposing bodies.
And recently, he has become one of the best post passers in the game.
This year’s playoffs showed that teams are all about finding and exploiting defensive mismatches. LeBron did this by targeting the slowest big or smallest guard and having that player’s man come set him a screen, forcing the opponent to switch.
When a guard had to cover James, he used his superior strength to back them down and get to the rim, even if he started all the way near the 3-point arc.
Defenses were forced to start doubling LeBron in the post, and that’s when he set the table for his teammates to feast.
Perhaps no player in the history of the game has been better at punishing double-teams than James, who manipulates defenders like pieces on a chessboard.
And with unlimited passing range, teams cannot abandon players even on the other side of the floor without conceding a potentially open shot.
Teammates like Josh Hart, Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will thrive off looks created by his magnetism for defensive attention.
Speaking of LeBron’s teammates, the current roster construction could be one of the most defensive-minded groups that he has ever played with.
Last year, the Lakers jumped from last in the NBA in defensive efficiency to 12th. Ball, Hart, Caldwell-Pope, Brandon Ingram and coach Luke Walton had a ton to do with that.
They added a ridiculous amount of length over the summer, as Rondo, Lance Stephenson and JaVale McGee have similarly impressive wingspans as Ingram and Ball.
This should take some defensive pressure off James and allow him to play free safety, roaming around and causing havoc.
And when needed, he is always capable of locking down an opponent or hunting a swat in transition.
Fifteen years ago, a teenager named LeBron James made the leap from high school straight to the NBA. Now 33 years old, James not only remains best player in the world, he is somehow still evolving.
Last season, he averaged career-highs in assists (9.1), rebounds (8.6) and made 3-pointers (1.8). He has tilted his game more toward post-ups and distributing, and is already elite at both.
He is even adding more shots to his arsenal. Step-back 3’s have been falling regularly. His fadeaway jumper — used sparingly by most players — is a new, lethal move that fell at a 52.9 percent rate on 68 attempts during the playoffs.
No need to remind the Raptors, who could not stop LeBron as he swept their best team in franchise history while simultaneously taking target practice with his fadeaway.
There is no arguing LeBron’s greatness. He is the seventh-leading scorer in NBA history and 11th in assists. He is a three-time champion and Finals MVP, four-time MVP, 14-time all-star and two-time Olympic gold medalist.
He is one of the most complete players of all-time, with zero major flaws in his game. He is still at his peak, coming off one of the most impressive individual playoff runs in NBA history, which arguably saw him play the best basketball of his career.
We know King James is ready to hold court in L.A. But nobody ever truly knows what feat he will perform next.
