Lakers player season grades: LeBron James
When the 2021-22 season began, it looked like LeBron James had a good chance at winning his fifth NBA championship ring.
The Los Angeles Lakers had just traded for Russell Westbrook, giving them what looked to be a “superteam.”
But instead of contending for the world title, the Lakers gradually dissolved into a disaster of a team. Yes, injuries played a key role, but ultimately, roster construction and a lack of chemistry doomed the team.
In the end, it all reflected badly on James. In some ways, he had a remarkable season, but the Lakers missing out on the play-in tournament caused many to see the good things James did this season in a different light.
This was unlike any other season in James' career
Last offseason, the Lakers were trying to reload by acquiring DeMar DeRozan, a versatile, ball-handling wing who is originally from the Los Angeles area, in a sign-and-trade deal.
The team ultimately declined to pull the trigger because, according to reports, it was unwilling to give DeRozan a long enough contract.
But another reason the Lakers turned him down was because James pushed hard for a Westbrook trade.
Although Westbrook played very well at times and still looks to have plenty of game left, he was an awkward fit, and as a result, he became the big scapegoat for all that went wrong with the team.
James was also blamed for either influencing or strong-arming the Lakers’ front office into trading for Westbrook.
The four-time MVP’s massive influence was also apparently the impetus behind the Lakers signing veteran forward Carmelo Anthony, a longtime close friend of his.
Anthony’s signing was also polarizing among Lakers fans. He played well at times, but overall, he was inconsistent offensively and often a liability on defense.
This seems to be the MO for James and the reality of having him on one’s team. He is still in the discussion as arguably the best player in the game, but many accuse him and his agency Klutch Sports of playing shadow GM and pressuring his team into giving up assets and young players for aging veterans.
By December, when Anthony Davis suffered a sprained MCL that kept him out of action for several weeks, it was clear that L.A. wouldn’t be a prime contender for the NBA championship.
This was the fourth time in James’ 19-year career his team has failed to qualify for the playoffs.
However, it didn’t prevent him from being highly prolific.
This was one of James' best individual seasons ever
When the season started, it looked like the presence of Westbrook would allow James to kick back a bit in the regular season and preserve himself for the playoffs. Some figured that his stats would take a slight hit as a result.
After looking a bit old and slow in the opening weeks of the season, as well as missing some games due to a sprained ankle and an ab injury, he started to pour it on.
With the Lakers struggling to get and stay over .500, James began to post big numbers on a regular basis.
Just after Davis’ injury in December, James scored over 30 points in each of the next seven games and 11 of the next 12. By March, with the team in danger of missing the play-in tournament, he put things into overdrive.
He exploded for 56 points in a win over the eventual Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors, then poured in 50 points versus the Washington Wizards less than a week later.
James closed out the season by posting at least 30 points in nine of his last 11 games (he missed nine contests down the stretch due to injury), as well as 36 or more points in each of his last five games.
On the year, he averaged 30.3 points on 52.4 percent shooting, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game.
His shooting percentage was impressive when one considers he attacked the rim less than he has in years and that he took a career-high 36.7 percent of his shots from 3-point range.
James even improved his free throw shooting, which has long been a relative weakness of his, from 69.8 percent last year to 75.6 percent this year.
In the recent past, James would have been universally lauded for putting up such massive numbers at the age of 37.
But because of how disastrous the season turned out for L.A., he was accused by many of padding his own stats at the expense of the team.
Critics argue James is focused like a laser on surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading career scorer, a milestone he will achieve next season if he stays relatively healthy.
Towards the end of this season, James surpassed Karl Malone to move into second place on the league’s career scoring list.
He also became the first NBA player to reach 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists in a March contest versus the Phoenix Suns.
It’s hard to truly decipher whether James really was selfishly gunning this year, especially towards the end of the schedule. With Davis out of action two different times for several weeks each, and with the Lakers’ defense having massive problems, perhaps James simply had to score lots of points to give them a shot at winning each night.
Or maybe his critics are right and he truly disregarded team goals in order to chase his own individual agenda.
Overall grade
All in all, the 2022 season was a mixed bag for James.
On a personal basis, he played outstanding ball, but his team had an epic fail of a season.
In the end, the performance of a team is considered a reflection of the job its leader did. Whether that’s fair or not, that’s life, whether one is talking pro sports, business or politics.
Perhaps, in retrospect, title contention wasn’t a reasonable expectation for the Lakers this year, but one would think they should’ve at least reached the playoffs, especially given the numbers James put up on a consistent basis.
It looks like James has one, maybe even two elite years left in him if he’s lucky enough to avoid any major injuries. But for a man who has shown great leadership in the past, what he did this year seems empty.
Final grade: B-
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