LeBron James on Lakers Adding Elite Players: 'That Would Be Ideal'
LeBron James is ready to see some super-star level players join him in Los Angeles.
In a sit-down interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols, James, currently the only All-Star with the team, emphasized his eagerness to help the Lakers add elite talent to the roster during free agency.
"That would be ideal," James said of the Lakers adding another marquee player. "And I think you've heard, from the front office, what they believe, what we can do. And that's gonna be my job as well. I'm looking forward to when guys come up for free agency. I'll be at their doors. I'll be on their phones, seeing how we can continue to help this franchise become an elite franchise and get back to the mountaintop again."
James has already started those recruiting efforts last week, telling ESPN that it would be "amazing" and "incredible" if the Lakers could land five-time All-Star Anthony Davis, who is currently under contract with the New Orleans Pelicans.
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James admitted he had trouble with recruiting others in the past, however. Unlike his time in Miami, James said he was unable to convince others to join him in Cleveland.
"A lot of people didn't want to come to Cleveland, let me just throw that out there," James told Nichols. "I tried to recruit so many guys to come to Cleveland, and we actually had – I had – a couple guys and it just didn't work out. It wasn't hard getting guys in Miami, I'll tell you that. So now that I think being in L.A., I don't think it would be that hard to get guys here."
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Part of that belief depends on the Lakers' ability to win games, James added. Los Angeles currently sits at 19–14 and in fourth place in the Western Conference. The Lakers are only three games behind the second-place Warriors.
"We got to win, and at the end of the day, it's all about winning," James said. "You know, and that's what I'm trying to do right now, is to show prospects and free agents—and at the same time, show these guys that I got right now—that we can win now, and let's not worry about the future."
The Lakers will take on the Warriors in a Christmas Day showdown at 8 p.m. ET.
