While LeBron James gave the baby Lakers a chance to prove themselves last season, opting not to demand on trading them during the off-season after he arrived, it never fully felt like he was committed to the young core. Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and Kyle Kuzma, though, did not exactly give James reason for optimism throughout the season, ultimately leading to them being traded for Anthony Davis over the summer.
However, James was not an innocent bystander during the season. In a recent piece by ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan on Rajon Rondo’s resurgence in the NBA Finals, Rondo told a story of how he chastised James for his poor body language around the young Lakers.
“When guys are making the same mistakes over and over and over, it’s hard to bite your tongue but I tried to get [James] to focus on his body language.
“Those young guys were looking at everything he did. If they missed four shots in a row and LeBron was making a face, it was crushing to them. He was their Michael Jordan. They didn’t want to let him down. But if LeBron said one thing positive to Brandon Ingram or Kyle Kuzma, they immediately were back to their old selves.”
Considering how highly someone like Lonzo Ball talked about James last season, Rondo’s words hold some weight. Ball mentioned many times that James was his favorite player growing up. As much as they want to look at James as a peer, most of the young players looked up to James.
And because of that, everything they did came with some desire for approval from James, giving credence to Rondo’s words. It also shows Rondo’s intelligence not just as a player but as a teammate.
