LeBron opts to play the long game in LA
Basketball’s top player will employ patience as he adapts to new, young Lakers teammates
When LeBron James fixes that intense stare and follows it with words you tend to believe him. So when he says that one of his most important virtues this season will be patience, well, patience is surely what’s required.
Yet it may also be a personality trait that has rarely been tested as much as it could be over the coming weeks and months, as James’ move to the Los Angeles Lakers gets into full flow.
Never before has James been at the helm of a team as inexperienced as the one that will begin its season in Portland on October 18. Not since his rookie year has he gone into a new campaign with his squad considered far from certain to even reach the playoffs.
And never has a losing record seemed like more of a possibility than it does with a roster featuring one King, a sprinkling of veterans and a handful of unproven youngsters.
“I am not a very patient guy and I understand I have to be that right now,” James told reporters on Tuesday. “I have to be patient with myself too, it is a new start for me, it is my first year here and first year in the system. I know I can play the game of basketball, but this is on me too.”
Just a few hours to the north, patience isn’t much of an issue for the Golden State Warriors, not with back-to-back titles stashed in the trophy cabinet.
It’s not really a concern for the Houston Rockets either, who are ready to rumble now, or the rest of the Western Conference’s major contenders. But it is for LA, and for LBJ.
James was speaking after his first full day of practice as a Laker, a defense-minded morning session with a lighthearted shooting competition to conclude it. There is little of practical significance to be read into such a small sample size, and little notice even to take from the first preseason game against the Denver Nuggets in San Diego on Sunday.
All you can really do at this point is wonder. Some things you don’t have to think about. Will James provide leadership, intensity and consistency? Check. Will he have a point to prove after leaving Cleveland and rocking up in the Western Conference? Check. Will there be a whole lot of attention on the Lakers and him, every time he takes to the court? Of course.
But wondering about his mindset is a different story, and one that will form one of the most engaging plotlines of the NBA season.
Between Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma – as well as Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Michael Beasley – there is plenty for James to adapt to.
“I got to bring in the approach I get from home,” James said. “When you have three kids, you have to be patient. I’m not calling these guys kids; they’re young men here, and some of these men have families as well. But you learn that you have to be patient and you have to gauge everyone individually very different to get the most out of them.
When winners don’t win all the time they get frustrated. When frustration kicks in it must be managed, or it will fester. It is not too difficult to talk about the right things, but when times get tough it’s not always as simple as taking a deep breath and saying “Keep Calm and Carry On Shooting.”
James can speak with clarity now and also with the best of intentions, for everything is currently smooth. If difficulty kicks in, that’s when his head will need to be as strong as the rest of his body.
“We are here for one reason and one reason only, to someday hoist the trophy,” James added. “That’s the end of the road, but we have to have those kind of championship habits every day, not only on the floor but off the floor.”
LA’s fascination with James is still fresh and for a good while at least he will find himself bombarded with questions.
What does he hope to bring to the team, how much can he teach, what is his relationship with Luke Walton going to be like?
“Give some time please, give me some time,” he joked. “It has only been two hours.”
Maybe he will look back on this time as the start of something unexpectedly special, but there is no doubt that this is a work in progress, a major renovation with a famous face at the front of it.
Good things come to those who wait. But the waiting is the hard part and James knows that more than anyone.
(USA Today/TNS)