Goodbye LeBron! What the Lakers Shakeup Means for the NBA and LA

On today’s episode of the ‘Daily Variety’ podcast: Variety‘s Marlow Stern explains LeBron James’ decision to leave the Los Angeles Lakers after eight seasons and one championship title. The shakeup leaves one of the NBA’s most high-profile teams a bit short on star power.

James is undeniably one of the best players to ever play the game. But now that he is leaving the Los Angeles Lakers, the team is at a crossroads and needs to be rebuilt. Crucially for an LA team, it needs to recruit some big names – or nurture the next Shaq or Kobe.

James’ prowess on the court has been overshadowed in recent years by his heavy-handed approach to sending his son, Bronny James, to the Lakers. Stern, who is that? Variety‘s chief correspondent and a devoted NBA fan, says the Bronny James situation has frustrated some fans. LeBron James’ decision came a day after the Lakers agreed to a two-year contract with Bronny. And LeBron is also thinking about his legacy, Stern believes.

“With his son’s future secured, I think LeBron decided it was time to move on. And honestly, I think he also looked at the team and the scheme and realized they probably won’t win a championship next year. And I think what he really wants more than anything is a fifth NBA title,” Stern said. “He actually wants to have more titles than Steph Curry and be the player of his generation with the most NBA titles. He wants to get closer to Michael Jordan, who has six NBA titles. The constant refrain is: who is the GOAT of the NBA? And it’s always between Michael Jordan and LeBron. And LeBron is very aware of these conversations and has been asked about them ad nauseum. And so I think winning a fifth title is very important to him.”

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