In a season filled with upheaval, LeBron James has taken on a new position with new running mates in a quest to give LA its most meaningful title.
In another reality, one not irrevocably altered by the spread of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, the excitement in Los Angeles would be palpable. The Lakers were back, sitting atop the Western Conference standings, poised to end a six-year playoff drought.
The poor chemistry that defined last season’s 37-win team had been replaced by an unshakeable bond among the players of a team that racked up 49 wins before the NBA season was suspended on March 11. LeBron James, after showing signs of basketball mortality throughout the 2018–19 season, had surged back into MVP contention in this one.
A championship run had become not just possible but probable, a franchise that was shaken by an unspeakable tragedy at midseason with a chance to give it a storybook ending, a superstar in James with an opportunity to line his résumé with a signature accomplishment. “I don’t think I’ll be able to have any closure,” says James, “if we do not have an opportunity to finish this season."
An early window into the fire that raged inside LeBron James all season, that fueled a return to the MVP discussion, that pushed the Lakers from playoff outsider last season to title contender in this one, that afforded James his best chance at a championship since, well, his last one, just four springs ago—was delivered in a very 21st-century way: a cellphone video posted to Twitter that quickly went viral. In a mid-November game at Oklahoma City, after James was whistled for a foul, he glared at Marc Davis, a 22-year veteran referee. “I know you have been reading that I haven’t been playing defense the last couple of years,” James said - SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
Full story - https://www.si.com/nba/2020/04/15/lebron-james-lakers-hollywood-revival