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As LeBron James sat in front of the media after completing final practice for the Lakers before a possible closing game against the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, he was asked many questions. On his mentality with a 3-1 lead, on the jerseys the Lakers would wear for Game 5 and beyond.
James clearly didn’t want to say much. He was focused on the next game. About winning. When I come home. But one question forced him to reflect a bit more: When asked what he had learned about what it means to be a Laker during his time in Los Angeles, he was as sincere as he has been during all the NBA Finals.
“Well one, what I’ve learned being a Laker is that the Laker faithful don’t give a shit what you’ve done before becoming a Laker,” James said. “They don’t care about your resume at all until you become a Laker. So you have to do it like Laker, and then they respect you. I have learned that. “
Part of how James learned that lesson was likely due to the mixed response he received in his first year as Laker. Yes, it was almost unanimously celebrated as a signing by Lakers fans, but this fanbase is also used to seeing most of their great players come to them earlier in their careers, be it through the Draft of the NBA (Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant) or through previous free agency (Shaquille O’Neal). Even Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (28) was much younger than James (34) when he joined the Lakers. James was still hugged, but it was more like the half hug he would give a friend from work when seen in public than the full, enveloping hug he would suffocate a lost friend in a desperately needed meeting. He knew he would have to win for that to change.
James has earned a lot in his second season in Los Angeles, but it’s fair to say that he has also become more universally loved, in part because of the way he has reciprocated Lakers fans’ love for his franchise history. He has turned the organization away from Bryant’s death and showed deference for his greatness and how much he admired the Lakers star who preceded him, even before Bryant passed away. It didn’t hurt that Bryant also encouraged fans to accept James as their own great in some of his final public comments, and that his last tweet was to congratulate James on passing him on scoring and encouraging him to advance in the game.
But it’s not just the Bryant legend that James has referred to. James has mentioned the late Dr. Jerry Buss multiple times in postgame interviews throughout this playoff run, and he showed deference and respect for the other legends who came before him. He may have signed in 2018, but it’s fair to say that the 2019-20 season is when he really became a Laker.
Part of the reason for that evolution is that James thoroughly researches all eras of basketball in general, but his study of Lakers history specifically can be traced back to a dinner he had with Jeanie Buss this year. The two didn’t really get to connect much initially during their freshman year as Lakers due to how busy their schedules were, but they decided they wanted to sit down that March, just to get to know each other better.
“I didn’t know what to expect, just meeting someone, and he’s a huge student of the game,” Buss said recently during an appearance on “The Full 48” podcast with Howard Beck. “He’s so smart, and he’s so read and articulate, and he gets things done so fast, that he had made a deep dive into Lakers history.
“So when we sit down to dinner, he starts telling me about the things that he learned that I didn’t even know, about what my father built and who my father was,” Bus continued. “Of course he knew who Jerry Buss was, but really he took the time to learn about him before he was born, and the story and the kinds of things he told me really surprised me, that he really knew who my dad was. was and the history of the Lakers. “
And it wasn’t just that James had read about the greatest team owner in professional sports history that impressed Jeanie. It was that he understood how much it meant that his father had entrusted his empire to him.
“He just said that ‘your father really showed a lot of faith in you to put you in charge of what he built,’ and that really touched me. Because he’s an outsider who sees and looks inward, and for him to see it, and that courage really meant a lot to me, ”said Jeanie. “From there, our relationship has grown.”
Jeanie, an avid comic book reader, has likened James to being “the closest thing to a real-life superhero that anyone has ever seen,” and says it has inspired her to be stronger in dealing with the things that are bad in the world. today. That impact has been felt by the Lakers, who have now hired Dr. Karida Brown as their new Director of Racial Action and Equity, and have pledged to be an “anti-racist organization.”
It’s fair to say that James’ presence helped lead Jeanie and the organization in that evolution, and it’s not the only way he’s led them this year. When the team lost Bryant, they lost someone not just Jeanie, but the entire organization had seen him grow from an arrogant 17-year-old to a 41-year-old dad, and James recognized that the Lakers needed leadership at the time. He was the first person to speak at an organization-wide meeting the week of the passing of Bryant and his daughter Gianna, nearly moved to tears when he spoke directly to Lakers fans in the first game after Bryant’s death. He has continually maintained that he and the team want to embody the mindset Bryant had in the game of basketball, and it has all clearly had an effect on Jeanie as their partnership continues to grow.
“I think the way that he has represented the Lakers through the tragedy of losing Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna … His leadership has been very comforting throughout the Laker Nation,” Jeanie said. “I’m thankful he’s here and he’s a Laker and he’s having fun, and that he led this team to the NBA Finals.
“My relationship is obviously different with him than with Magic, than with Kobe, with so many players, but he is someone who has shown me how compassionate, empathetic, intelligent and brave he is. And it has inspired me. I’ve been in this business for 40 years, and some days it’s hard to move on and not get discouraged, but as you’ve said many times publicly, you have strong shoulders and can carry those in need at times, ”Jeanie continued. . “It has been that strength for me. And when he … in his post-game comments, he mentioned my dad’s name, and that touched me a lot because he obviously never played for Dr. Buss, but the fact that he has that in his heart about my dad really touched . me, and it meant a lot. “
The feeling is mutual, as James’s appreciation for Buss as the team’s governor has only grown over time since that dinner.
“I will say that my relationship with Jeanie is incredible. I think she is an incredible owner. I think she’s a powerful woman, ”James said after Thursday’s practice. “What she believes in is an extension of her father and continuing to build this legacy of this great franchise. I am happy to be a part of this. I am happy to have the relationship that I have with her and also with Linda Rambis. It is very unique. I am honored to be a part of this. “
The role both James and Buss have played has the Lakers on the brink of their 17th championship, and on the brink of becoming the first team with a women’s team governor to win a championship in NBA history. The importance of all this is not lost on any of them, nor is the importance of the strong partnership they have been able to build.
“I love the history of the game and have read a lot about Dr. Buss and his teams and their success. Playing while your daughter owns the team, I think it’s great. It just adds to the legacy of this franchise, ”said James.
Winning a title would only make it more, while also placing LeBron in the group of great Lakers that he has studied so hard now. Buss already seems to know that he is there, and with a championship, any remaining obstacles in the fanbase will have no choice but to embrace him as much as she does.
All Jeanie Buss quotes via Podcast “The Full 48”. For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast at iTunes, Spotify, Stapler or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.
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