For such a monumental transaction, it was announced with all the fanfare of an interoffice memo notifying employees that the refrigerator will be emptied on Friday. No TV special. No Sports Illustrated cover story. No pep rally.
LeBron James, arguably the best player in NBA history, agreed to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, arguably the best franchise in NBA history, and the four-year, $154 million deal was announced out on the first day of 2018 free agency in black-and-white, Helvetica 14-point font by the Klutch Sports Group Twitter account, which at the time had roughly 13,000 followers.
The lack of bells and whistles was at least partly due to the overwhelming public consensus that LeBron going to L.A. was a near certainty. Part of it was that a wisened, then-33-year-old LeBron had spent years reconciling the blowback from "The Decision" in 2010 and all that came with it.
But mostly, the bare-bones announcement was a symbol -- a message from LeBron to the Lakers and their fans that despite his three championship rings, he entered the next stage of his career with a blank slate. He knew that signing with the storied franchise didn't automatically place him in the pantheon of Laker legends like Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and the late, great Kobe Bryant.
LeBron knew he had to earn it. And he knew it wouldn't be easy joining a 35-win team whose talented core consisted mostly of players who had just recently surpassed the legal drinking age.
"What I've learned being a Laker is that the Laker faithful don't give a damn what you've done before," James said three days before bringing the franchise its 17th title -- tied with the Boston Celtics for most in NBA history. "Until you become a Laker, you've got to do it with them, as well. They don't care about your resume at all until you become a Laker. Then you've got to do it as a Laker, and then they respect you. I've learned that."
James has earned that respect by winning his fourth NBA Finals MVP, but it didn't come easy with a Lakers fan base that had gone 10 years without raising a banner. This is a group that largely, despite James' countless accolades and achievements, had Kobe ranked ahead of him on all-time lists before LeBron even put on a Laker uniform. Bryant's five titles had a lot to do with that, but there were also the countless instances of Mamba Mentality that Bryant represented, but that fans had not yet seen from LeBron -- at least not in the purple and gold.
It didn't help that James' first season with the franchise was a colossal disappointment. After a 2-5 start, the Lakers were just starting to hit their stride when James went down with a groin injury during the marquee matchup of the Christmas Day slate against the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors. Still in playoff contention when LeBron returned on the last day of January, the Lakers stumbled to the finish line with an 8-17 record before James was shut down for the final six games of the season. It was the first time LeBron had missed the playoffs since he was 20 years old, and the Lakers' failure to make the postseason for a sixth straight year then brought along all the accompanying conjecture about James.
LeBron doesn't care about winning in L.A., he's just here to shoot "Space Jam." LeBron got injured and missed more games this season than he ever has -- maybe he's finally starting to break down. People brought up LeBron's history of meddling in front-office decisions, with memes circulating about James looking at the Lakers roster figuring out which young players he wanted to send packing, particularly after Anthony Davis demanded a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans.
Sure enough, by the middle of June 2019, Luke Walton was out as Lakers head coach, and three members of the Lakers' promising young core -- Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart -- were sent to New Orleans along with all of the team's draft capital for the foreseeable future, in exchange for Davis.
Even in the fervor from Lakers fans over the James-Davis pairing and a potential return to greatness, there was a lingering feeling that perhaps the team gave up too much and wouldn't be able to put enough pieces around its two superstars to win a title. Those feelings were exacerbated when Ingram turned into an All-Star and the league's Most Improved Player, while the Los Angeles Clippers became the odds-on title favorite -- an infuriating concept for die-hard Laker fans.
Now, however, that's all a distant memory. Despite all the dramatic ups and downs of his first year and change with the franchise, LeBron can finally be welcomed wholeheartedly into the Lakers pantheon of greatness after delivering a title.
That's it. It's that simple. Case closed.
This wasn't a tack-on title for LeBron, either. This wasn't like Wilt Chamberlain, who also won a title with the Lakers at the age of 35, but was clearly on the backside of his career as the team's fourth-leading scorer. LeBron was the unquestioned alpha -- thoroughly dominant, clearly the best player on the floor in every game. And to do it in 2020, during a pandemic amid a social justice movement, and in the aftermath of the tragic loss of Bryant and his daughter, LeBron can officially do no wrong in Laker land.
Now the question becomes how high James' stock can rise on the all-time Lakers lists. He'll likely never catch Magic, Kobe and Kareem, who each brought the franchise five titles, but with Davis looking unstoppable at times on both ends of the floor and James showing no signs of slowing, it's realistic to expect the Lakers to contend for titles in each of the final two seasons of LeBron's contract -- perhaps even longer.
But none of that matters right now. James went to Miami to become a champion, came back to Cleveland to deliver a starving city a long-awaited title, and has now brought the trophy back to the Lakers and restored a franchise that displayed few signs of hope before he arrived.
"I told Jeannie [Buss] when I came here that I was gonna put this franchise back in a position where it belongs," James said in his Finals MVP acceptance speech. "Her late, great father did it for so many years and she just took it on after that. For me to be a part of such a historical franchise, it's an unbelievable feeling. ... We just want our respect. Rob [Pelinka] wants his respect. Coach [Frank] Vogel wants his respect. Our organization wants their respect. Laker Nation wants their respect.
"And I want my damn respect too."
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LeBron James emphatically earns place in all-time Lakers pantheon by delivering NBA title at top of his game - CBS Sports
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