LeBron ready to trust in patience
PORTLAND, Ore. — Dump Lonzo Ball.
Trade Brandon Ingram for Jimmy Butler.
Find new shooters ASAP. Those were some of the suggested moves discussed in the media room at the Moda Center on Thursday night after the Lakers lost to the Trail Blazers 128-119 in the regular-season opener. Then LeBron James arrived.
About seven minutes later, this is what you could assume:
Lonzo is staying put. (For now.) Butler will not wear purple and gold. (Anytime soon.)
Shooters must be found on the current roster. (Until further notice.)
This is going to come as a terrible disappointment to Generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z — not to many Lakers fans — but LeBron is preaching patience.
“That’s all I’ve been preaching,” he said.
He’s preaching from experience too. LeBron made his NBA debut with the Cavaliers in 2003, made his debut with the Heat in 2010, made his debut with the Cavs upon returning to Cleveland in 2014 and made his debut with the Lakers with equal success.
That’s four debuts, and four defeats. The upshot? The Heat made the 2011 Finals and the Cavs made the 2015 Finals. The 2003 Cavs finished under .500 but reached the Eastern Conference finals two years later.
Patience, people.
As impressive as LeBron was Thursday on the court — he had a team-high 26 points, a team-high 12 rebounds and six assists — he was just as impressive during his postgame media session. He turned temporary chemistry teacher as he addressed the roster issues.
Three of the Lakers key players — Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart — are in their second year in the NBA. LeBron is among four key players who are in their first year with the Lakers. So what do you think of the chemistry now and how long does it take to get in sync, a reporter asked LeBron.
“Uh, not as fast as you guys think it’s going to happen,” he said. “I always kind of compare it to instant oatmeal. It’s not that fast. It takes a while before the chemistry gets to where you close your eyes and you know exactly where your guys are.”
That was not the case Thursday, LeBron acknowledged.
“The timing of some of our passes” was off, he said. “I had one in the fourth quarter, I expected Kuz to pop, he rolled, I threw it out of bounds.”
LeBron said point guard Rajon Rondo drove to the baseline a couple of times and threw passes to LeBron. Only JaVale McGee thought the passes were meant for himself and knocked the ball out of bounds.
“As we all continue to work with one another, we’ll get better,” LeBron said.