Over the last year, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has faced arguably the most disrespect he has ever received in his storied NBA career.
Since joining the Lakers last summer and subsequently failing to advance to the NBA Finals in nearly a decade, fans and experts alike have deduced that James’ reign is over.
According to ESPN’s Mike Greenberg, James will use the disrespect he has faced as fuel to dominate the league in the 2019-20 campaign.
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“Gentlemen it is my contention that LeBron James is getting ready to go medieval on the NBA,” Greenberg said. “He has sat back for the last several months and heard his name slandered, which I think this constitutes, in a way that is unimaginable to me.
“On this very program, and I will admit it, we spent practically two months debating and changing our minds every other day over who is the best player in basketball and never once did someone say, ‘Actually, it’s still LeBron James. He’s only been gone for a short period of time.’ I think LeBron is going to come back on a scorched Earth tour. All this taco Tuesday stuff is fun, and I love it. I love jovial LeBron. But I think we are getting angry, motivated, well-rested LeBron next year and he may very well, despite his age, have as good a year as he’s ever had.”
Amidst all the debate over who the new best player in the league is, people have certainly forgotten that while James only played in 55 games last season, he did manage to average 27.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game.
For comparison, the reigning league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game.
Now that James is no longer the lone star in Los Angeles, it will be fascinating to see how his game evolves alongside star big man Anthony Davis as the Lakers’ championship hunt truly begins.
