1. He’s LeBron James. He is the system
Over the course of a historic 15-year career, LeBron James has proven that there isn’t much he can’t do on the basketball court. Scoring, shooting, rebounding, facilitating, defending — it’s all in the King’s toolkit, which makes him the most versatile weapon in the NBA.
When a team acquires the services of a guy like LeBron James, they don’t plug him into their system. He becomes the system, with everything revolving around him.
Some may scrutinize LeBron for the changes his game brings when he joins a squad, but it’s hard to argue with the results: Eight consecutive Finals appearances and three championships.
The attempt to jam a square peg into a round hole was part of the reason the Miami Heat failed to win the title in James’ inaugural season, attempting to fit him into a style of play head coach Erik Spoelstra had run previously with Dwyane Wade as the focal point.
It was only when Spoelstra and company decided to mold everything around LeBron to fit him and his game that they became champions.
The same will have to go for his new teammates in Los Angeles and head coach Luke Walton if they want to compete for championships.
Because of his empowerment of others, there will be opportunities for guys like Kuzma, Ball and Ingram to showcase their individual talents, especially with James likely relinquishing some control as he moves into the twilight of his career.
More often than not, though, LeBron’s presence will mean having to play off him, which may result in not having the ball as much and being relegated to spot-up duties in the corner.
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As guys like Kevin Love and Chris Bosh can attest, such a role can be difficult, but the pros far outweigh the cons, making deep playoff runs with a great chance of ending the season on top as champions.