{"id":75161,"date":"2024-04-28T13:44:14","date_gmt":"2024-04-28T17:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=75161"},"modified":"2024-04-28T13:44:14","modified_gmt":"2024-04-28T17:44:14","slug":"draymond-lukewarm-about-lebrons-championship-chances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/04\/28\/draymond-lukewarm-about-lebrons-championship-chances\/","title":{"rendered":"Draymond Lukewarm About LeBron\u2019s Championship Chances"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles Lakers megastar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a> is in his 21st season.<\/p>\n<p>At 39 years old and still dominating on a near-nightly basis. However, while his love of the game plays a significant part in why he continues to suit up every night, the main reason that James continues to compete is because he wants to win championships. Already a four-time NBA champion, James\u2019 storied career has come closer to matching <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jordami01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Jordan<\/a>\u2019s mythos than anyone\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>To that point, James may or may not still be vying for the title of \u2018Greatest of All-Time.\u2019 Just the other day, he was proclaiming himself to be the \u2018G.O.A.T.\u2019 while responding to his son Bryce Maximus\u2019 trash talk.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\u201cI\u2019m the GOAT.\u201d \ud83d\udc10<\/p>\n<p>LeBron had to make it known after Bryce\u2019s trash talk \ud83d\ude02<\/p>\n<p>(via <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bryce_james23?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@bryce_james23<\/a>) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dgequq2JBL\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/dgequq2JBL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BleacherReport\/status\/1781322545507004818?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, if the latest player\u2019s poll has anything to say about it, James is still just a hair behind Jordan in most people\u2019s minds.<\/p>\n<p>So, with Lakers having their backs against the wall in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, there\u2019s no doubt that James is feeling more than just the normal pressure that comes along with making it to the postseason. He\u2019s feeling the pressure to be remembered as the best basketball player to grace the hardwood. He feels the stale breath of Father Time.<\/p>\n<h2>Draymond Green Lukewarm About Friend\u2019s Championship Chances<\/h2>\n<p>This week, Golden State Warriors forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greendr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Draymond Green<\/a> addressed James\u2019 championship chances on his podcast. A four-time NBA champion himself, Green expresses doubt about his friend\u2019s ability to win a ring with the Lakers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith this current Lakers team, I don&#8217;t think so,\u201d Green says of the likelihood James wins another championship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it&#8217;s going to be tough. LeBron James winning a championship at the level that he&#8217;s playing at? Absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Will LeBron James get his fifth ring? \ud83c\udfc6\ud83e\udd14 #nba #lakers #lebronjames #sports\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GFd8fGRFtAM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I think some things have to be retooled and figured out and not with this current team I don&#8217;t think is possible. But I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s impossible for LeBron to win another championship.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>What\u2019s Next for LeBron James?<\/h3>\n<p>L.A. has a bit of life after handily defeating the Denver Nuggets in Game 4.<\/p>\n<p>However, they still face nearly insurmountable odds. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in a playoff series. Notably, James also faced a 3-0 deficit against Nuggets in the 2023 Western Conference Finals. To that point, the Lakers could still advance in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, but it\u2019s highly unlikely.<\/p>\n<p>Had L.A. been more successful than susceptible throughout James\u2019 tenure with the Lakers, the reality that they may have met their match against the Nuggets may be less apocalyptic. However, in six seasons with the Lakers, James has either missed the playoffs or been bounced from the First Round three times. Because of that, this series is less about the Nuggets having their number and more about whether James should keep donning his No. 23 jersey in Lakers purple and gold.<\/p>\n<p>At this point, the answer is <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/04\/23\/no-matter-what-its-time-lebron-lakers-breakup\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a resounding no<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h4>Front Office Failures<\/h4>\n<p>The Lakers brass has endeavored to build a championship team around James. Yet, owner Jeanie Buss\u2019 stubborn resistance to trading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/reaveau01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Austin Reaves<\/a> could backfire. After averaging 15.9 points per game on 36.7 percent shooting from 3 in the 2023-24 regular season, Reaves is averaging 16.3 points per game on 27.3 percent shooting from 3 in the postseason. L.A. has also needed a more steady scorer than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/russeda01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">D\u2019Angelo Russell<\/a>, who\u2019s shooting 37.9 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from 3.<\/p>\n<p>If the Lakers had <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/01\/25\/nba-rumors-lakers-frontrunners-hawks-dejounte-murray\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">been willing to move<\/a> Reaves to move Russell, taking back Atlanta Hawks guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/murrade01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dejounte Murray<\/a>, they would have three consistently reliable scorers in Murray, James, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davisan02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Davis<\/a>. Murray averaged 22.5 points per game on 36.3 percent shooting from 3 in 2023-24.<\/p>\n<p>L.A. also provides James with little continuity from a coaching perspective. If he returns to the Lakers this offseason, there\u2019s a solid chance that they\u2019ll <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/04\/22\/los-angeles-lakers-likely-plan-for-darvin-ham-revealed\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">hire the fourth head coach<\/a> of his tenure.<\/p>\n<p>Limited in how they can re-tool the roster and yet undermined by constant turnover, the writing may already be on the wall. Indeed, L.A.\u2019s time with James could be over as early as this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles Lakers megastar LeBron James is in his 21st season. At 39 years old and still dominating on a near-nightly basis. However, while his love of the game plays a significant part in why he continues to suit up every night, the main reason that James continues to compete is because he wants to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":75226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1608,62,3],"tags":[4556,307,1262,409,757,38,297,4557,596],"class_list":["post-75161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lakers","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-austin-reaves","tag-dangelo-russell","tag-dejounte-murray","tag-draymond-green","tag-jeanie-buss","tag-lebron-james","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-nba-offseason","tag-nba-playoffs"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}