After being sidelined for multiple weeks, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James was able to return to game action on Friday.
Unfortunately, the Boston Celtics spoiled his return by handing L.A. a lopsided loss.
After the game, James offered some perspective on how he looks at the Lakers’ season. He explained that there’s “no level of panic,” but he added that there should always be “some sense of urgency” when the team takes the floor.
“It’s never, ‘We got 65 games left,'” James said regarding how he looks at the amount of time left in the regular season given the team’s poor start. “We damn sure need to play better, no matter who is in the lineup. We have our system and we need to obviously fast-track it and get better with it so we can play, no matter who is out on the floor, we can play at a high level. … There’s no level of panic, but there should be some sense of urgency any time we take the floor.”
A good number of Lakers fans are certainly frustrated with the team’s start, but it sounds like James is keeping his emotions in check. The 17-time All-Star has faced his fair share of adversity throughout his career, so he knows how to handle rocky situations.
With 17 games in the books, the Lakers have a losing record. They’re 8-9 on the season and are currently in the middle of the pack in the Western Conference standings.
L.A.’s Big 3 of James, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis hasn’t had many opportunities to play as a unit, so the trio might require some more time to work things out. Still, Westbrook’s fit alongside James and Davis remains a concern in the eyes of many.
Only time will tell if the team can find a way to get things moving in the right direction. The Lakers are trying to win their second title in a span of three seasons, but that seems like a tall task right now.
