With only 17 years Lebron James was on the cover of the famous Sports Illustrated magazine with the title “The Chosen One (The Chosen One)”. A title that soon became a statement of intent, then grew into a burden and eventually became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Throughout his long career, the Akron native has always lived on the rise, with some ups and downs of course, but always rooted at the top… Until he got to Los Angeles Lakers.
ONE ringtwo courses out of it Playoffsa delete to First round and the unknown of 2023. After a long road back, in this postseason LeBron faces what may be his last big chance to extend his legacy.
He legacy it is something very ethereal, difficult to measure, estimate or even describe synthetically. LeBron has always been someone who has been very concerned about this issue. His dedication to nurturing an image that will last once his career is over has been steadfast, especially in this final stage of decline. Therefore, every loss, every setback and every bad decision by the Lakers hurt him more than any other circumstance.
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As one of the all-time greats, James knows he will be compared and challenged against others in the same circumstances before him. And not being in contention for the ring was too heavy an asterisk for a figure unmatched in generations.
Hence these 2023 playoffs have capital relevance for LeBron James.
The three seasons that followed the 2020 ring revealed the fragility of a player who, until then, had shown no signs of being like other mortals. yes until then LeBron had challenged 91.4% of parties (1265 of 1383), between 2020-2021 and 2022-2023 this percentage dropped to 63.4% (156 of 246). Injuries appeared for the first time in his entire career in alarming fashion. And, as a result, his team fell in the standings.
Only 9 players in history have averaged more than 30 minutes in the playoffs after turning 38. Of all Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1987 was named champion with a scandal in the postseason. That’s what LeBron aspires to be. Adding one more title to his record feels like a mixture of desire, dream and obligation for a player who has achieved everything, but who always wants more.
👉👑👈
😤LEBRON
James
30 points | 10 rebounds | 6 assists
The King is back in the Playoffs pic.twitter.com/ghYQWRKkm7
— Sportingnewses Spain 🇪🇸 (@sportingnewses) April 12, 2023
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“That’s how I feel, I want to put myself in a position to compete for a championship. My teammates have never experienced what it means to be in a championship game.”, he said after eliminating the Timberwolves in the Play-In. “That hasn’t changed for me since, say, 2006 or 2007. That’s my mentality year after year: how can I be able to fight for the ring. I’ve been successful in some of these years, in other I was close, but I’ve learned to be able to achieve it, so I’ve been in a few championship matches. I will keep fighting and hopefully this will be another year [para poder conseguirlo]”.
However, history plays with LeBron James and the Lakers. When talking about a team in seventh place, no team managed to be champions by finishing the Regular Phase so low. The best results were seattle supersonics of 1987 who reached the Western Finals as seventh and o New York Knicks since 1999 reaching the Finals after finishing the season in 8th place. However, one thing must be remembered: No franchise had been able to make the playoffs after starting a 2-10 run until these Lakers. A team that, regardless of Play-In format, finished all 82 matches in the top 8.
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You will have a few ahead Memphis Grizzlies which are all unknown. Young, fast and vertical, Taylor Jenkins’ men have proved solid in the Regular Season but will be without two of their key players at the back: Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke. Add to that the fact that they are a high foul volume team while the Lakers are a team that goes for free throws very regularly, and the series appears to be not as evenly matched as it seems.
Only one loss in the First Round appears on LeBron James’ playoff record, just since his last stint with the Lakers in 2021. Betting against one of the players who has historically been the best in the race for a ring doesn’t seem like much recommended, especially when he knows it could be his last chance to achieve something great and thus write the final chapter of his incredible career.
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
