LeBron James came of age in Northeast Ohio, as a kid from Akron who dared to dream and somehow exceeded impossible expectations after he entered the NBA as a rookie for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003.
He reached the summit in South Beach, a decision that earned “the King” two championships in back-to-back years (2012 and 2013) with the Miami Heat.
After four years in Mami, he kept a promise and returned to the Cavaliers for a second stint. His promise changed Cleveland forever as he led his team to NBA glory in 2016 as the Cavs defeated the Golden State Warriors in seven games to give the city its first championship, in any sport, in 52 years.
For nearly two decades James has been chasing titles and records and has and although he hasn’t reached Michael Jordan’s six titles he’s in the conversation to be considered one of the top two players in history.
The question then looms. If he’s all about rings and records, why has James then decided to go to the Los Angeles Lakers?
James owns two mansions in Brentwood, and this move is about family instead of titles. Perhaps for the first time in his career, his family was the biggest factor to decide where he would play next.
Furthermore, Los Angeles is the perfect city for LeBron now that he’s approaching the final years of his career. As a global superstar, moving close to Hollywood will provide him with literally a limitless set of options to build his entertainment empire.
LeBron has been given the keys to Magic’s Kingdom and will have the future of the team in his hands to help the Lakers build another super team that can dethrone the mighty Warriors as the top franchise in the Western Conference and all of basketball.
James will need more than just talent to take the Lakers back to the top of the NBA. He will need help from the franchise and if they don’t find him cerebral players to match wits with the Warriors the Lakers won’t get past the early rounds of the playoffs even with a new king in town.
