LeBron James has already been on the court for 23 minutes and change before he made his first dunk in a Laker uniform. In fact, he reached the milestone in his second game; in his first, he settled for looping threes and midrange jumpers through 15 minutes of exposure. In hindsight, it was, perhaps, meant to be. For all the times he strutted his stuff at the Staples Center since being selected first overall in the 2003 draft, he hadn’t done so in purple and gold until yesterday.
Two games in, its clear that James won’t be leading the Lakers from the lottery to the championship on his inaugural season. From his vantage point, all of the pieces on the board are new, and he will need practice after practice, game after game, to get acclimated to his teammates, not to mention his role in guiding them to success. He’s still widely considered the best of the best, but even he can do only so much in a team sport, where the last man riding the pine at the end of the bench needs to contribute to progress.
That said, James has undoubtedly galvanized the Lakers, and to the point where they are once again thinking about rubbing elbows at the top. They’ve always thought big, in part because of their storied past, and in larger measure because of the intrinsic advantages they hold as the National Basketball Association’s glamour franchise. Nonetheless, his very presence transforms them from dreamers to doers. And with a little luck and additional roster tweaks, they should be ready to truly contend.
Meanwhile, the Lakers would do well to temper their expectations. James already has, understanding that in the deep, deep West, talent alone holds no guarantees. It’s why he broke recent tradition and signed on for four years, and why he knows well enough to preach patience at every turn. And just as he waited until he had a prime opportunity to go for his first slam, so will he willingly take baby steps to move forward. His goal is still the same. He just needs forbearance to get there.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
