The Los Angeles Lakers suffered an unexpected first-round exit at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Although the Lakers were favored to come out of that series and make a deep playoff run, L.A. did not have the tools to do just that.
Their roster was flawed in many ways, especially after acquiring Luka Doncic in a trade. While they acquired a generational talent, they also lost two key players who were huge for them on both sides of the ball: Anthony Davis and Max Christie.
The Lakers would trade for Doncic nine out of 10 times; however, their lack of size and athleticism hurt them in the first round. In the end, the Timberwolves proved to be the better team, and James knows that better than anyone.
Although the Lakers had the two best players on the court, Doncic and himself, James knows better than anyone that it was the team that won championships, not the players.
In his latest podcast episode of Mind The Game, James spoke on the importance of team basketball, not just individual basketball.
"It's never just about me and Luka," James added. "It was never just about, you know, Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle. You know, it was always Minnesota vs. the Lakers. And I understand that. And I am at a point in my career now that I don't lose sleep over that, like, 'F--k, how did me and Luka lose?' Well, there's eight other guys on the floor."
Doncic and James did their part to guide the Lakers to victory, but as we've seen time and time again, no one or two players can do it alone. James averaged 25.4 points per game in the series, 9.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 2.0 steals while shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from three in 40.8 minutes of action.
Sometimes, neither James nor Doncic looked like themselves, which might have also led to their demise. Nonetheless, it takes a team, and the Lakers team did not play up to par to make it a series.
The Lakers will now shift their focus toward building a roster capable of contending not just next season, but for the long haul. Their goal remains clear: to position themselves as legitimate title threats well into the future.
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