The Los Angeles Lakers were reeling after the iconic Kobe Bryant retired. Over the next two seasons, they won 61 total games, longtime general manager Mitch Kupchak was replaced by Magic Johnson, and they didn’t have a single player who could score 20 points per game.
Then LeBron James came.
As he entered free agency in 2018, the four-time NBA MVP had been linked to the Lakers for circumstantial reasons. He had a budding (and now established) media company. The franchise has employed several legendary players, from Shaquille O’Neal to Wilt Chamberlain. Bryant’s tragic death was even cited as a contributing factor due to the respect James had for him.
Not many people, if any, mentioned that he was already considering what the end of his career might look like.
“Part of the reason James came to the Lakers as a free agent in 2018 is the standard of care they showed during the final seasons of Bryant's career a decade ago,” reports ESPN writer Ramona Shelburne. “James liked playing for an iconic franchise as much as he liked how it treated its iconic players.”
Bryant’s career didn’t end the way he wanted it to.
His body was breaking down, which was evident in his play and presence on the injury report. The Lakers won fewer than 30 games in each of his last four seasons, failing to clinch a playoff berth. However, in 2013, LA honored the then 35-year-old with a two-year, $48.5 million contract extension. He was the league’s highest-paid player.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, Bryant’s contract handicapped the team. Because of financial constraints, they had trouble convincing players to sign, especially with Bryant on his last leg. As a result, they were forced to build through the draft.
Sound familiar?
All of that being said, in the final year of Bryant’s 18-year career, Los Angeles gave the five-time NBA champion a ceremonial send-off. He received a tribute video and raucous cheers at every arena he went to. A neophyte basketball fan could’ve seen how much he meant to the Lakers and the league as a whole. Perhaps that’s what James was envisioning while enamored by the way the organization treated Bryant at the end of his career.
