Lakers

On Sept. 27, 2019, the spotlights flickered on the Lakers’ annual media day at UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo. New head coach Frank Vogel raved about the team’s latest 1-2 punch: Anthony Davis and the NBA’s biggest star, LeBron James. Vogel also issued a telling statement about the long rest that James had after a groin injury shortened his premier season in the City of Angels. “That’s good news for us and bad news for the rest of the league,” Vogel said. At the time, no one could have predicted how “good news-bad news” would come to epitomize the Lakers’ 2019-20 season over the following 380 days: a near-record setting start, the pathos after the tragic death of a revered team legend, the hiatus brought on by a…

In the summer of 2018, LeBron James, the most influential player in basketball and one of the most famous athletes in the world, was a free agent. James had played in eight straight NBA Finals, won four MVP awards, and claimed three titles with two different teams, the Miami Heat and his home-state Cleveland Cavaliers. There was no doubt that wherever LeBron landed, his presence would immediately elevate that team’s title hopes and alter the NBA landscape. One marquee franchise, in the shadow of Hollywood, harbored the greatest hopes: the Los Angeles Lakers. L.A. had missed the playoffs for five straight seasons, by far the longest drought in team history. Prior to the dismal stretch, the storied franchise had never missed the playoffs more than two consecutive seasons. More damning,…

LeBron James chose to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers to win championships, for its stable front office bolstered by NBA legend Magic Johnson, and for the chance to live out his childhood dream of emulating Magic and Showtime on the basketball court. After his first season with the team, all three outcomes looked to be in disarray. As the Lakers first season neared its dispiriting end, the front office started to unravel. Behind the scenes, Johnson and Rob Pelinka clashed over the direction of the team and where to turn next. On April 9, 2019, Magic, the president of basketball operations, abruptly resigned in an impromptu news conference about an hour and a half before the Lakers last game of the season, a loss to Portland. The man who…

Early on the morning of Jan. 26, 2020, LeBron James took a call from Kobe Bryant as the Lakers boarded a plane in Philadelphia bound for Los Angeles. The night before, in Kobe’s hometown against the Sixers, LeBron passed Bryant to become the NBA’s third all-time leading scorer. The play on which the torch was passed was insignificant; LeBron scored on a driving layup midway through the third quarter and finished with 29 points in a 108-91 loss, the last stop on a five-game road trip. The Lakers still led the Western Conference with a 36-10 record. LeBron keenly understood the historical significance of an otherwise ordinary basket. “I’m happy just to be in any conversation with Kobe Bean Bryant, one of the all-time greatest basketball players to ever play,…

In October 2019, LeBron and the Lakers traveled to China, specifically Shanghai and Shenzen, to face the Brooklyn Nets in two pre-season games. The trip was a goodwill mission, part of the NBA’s continued push to grow globally. At the same time, pro-democracy protests swept through Hong Kong, and Rockets G.M. Daryl Morey caused an international firestorm when he tweeted support for the protestors while the NBA players were in China. Instead of growing the game, the NBA was at the epicenter of a growing problem. Promotional banners were pulled from Shanghai buildings, media interviews were cancelled or cut short, and Chinese companies suspended their league sponsorships. A meeting was called hastily between NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the players on the trip at their Shanghai hotel. In that meeting,…

Hot zones, case counts, vigorous hand washing, abundant sanitizer, and wearing masks: Why did NBA players choose to risk their health, leave their families and resume their season, when the world was turned upside down? In a word: Reform. While the pandemic raged, an array of societal issues from protests and police brutality to the disproportionate Coronavirus deaths among black Americans commanded the news. For most NBA players, regardless of race or background, the issues hit close to home. The players realized that as professional athletes, lots of people looked up to them or at least paid attention to what they did and said. So, instead of only commenting on a game, they saw an opportunity to express how they felt about something more. “[LeBron] is ready for this moment.……