LeBron James will face a decision on his future and already he is being advised to leave the LA Lakers behind.
With the LA Lakers eliminated from the NBA Playoffs in the first round, attention is already turning the to decisions ahead.
General manager Rob Pelinka has already addressed the media, confirming the Lakers will look to address their glaring weakness by adding size to the team.
Pelinka is expecting LeBron James to return, although the superstar has stated he will speak to his family before confirming his plans.
Former Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce believes it is time for LeBron James to end his stint with the LA Lakers, where he has been since 2018.
Pierce believes this is the right move for the franchise, who have been beholden to LeBron James since his arrival from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He points to the Lakers’ newest superstar, telling Speak that the team may find it easier to build a winning team around Luka Doncic, without LeBron.
Pierce explained: “If the Lakers want to be a championship contender moving forward, you have to get out of the constraints of the LeBron era.
“They have to find a way. He’s had a grasp of the whole organization, bear-hugging them, for so long now. He’s done some wonderful things, they probably going to build a statue of him.
“They have to say ‘fine, we appreciate your services, I think we should move on.’
“A tough conversation. It’s time for the Luka era now.”
“I don’t know if you can play them together moving forward because you have to have a certain type of team around Luka to win. And him with LeBron, he won’t be able to create that.”
The LA Lakers project was shifted around with the arrival of Luka Doncic, prompting a hard reset midway through the season.
This provided a real challenge for LeBron James, having to play as he had never done before, but at the age of 40, taking a lesser role made sense.
The problem was the pieces around them were not enough, and while LeBron took a step back at times in the playoffs, this might have been because of the situation he was in.
Jeff Teague pointed out he felt LeBron was not fully engaged during the playoffs, and this could be turned around if he has a team he feels he can truly believe in.
The big question is whether he feels he can find a better situation elsewhere, and Paul Pierce certainly believes it is time to explore it.
