LeBron James Must Embrace Role Player Status for Lakers to Succeed

LOS ANGELES — Late Thursday night, LeBron James—All-Star, All-NBA forward, four-time MVP and four-time NBA champion—sat in front of his locker to discuss his new status: role player.

The Lakers beat the flailing Bulls, 142–130. Luka Dončić scored 51 points. Austin Reaves added 30. Deandre Ayton chipped in with 23. The most notable numbers though belonged to James. He scored 18 points. He chipped in with seven rebounds and seven assists. Dončić took 31 shots, the most of any player. James attempted 13, fewer than any starter but Rui Hachimura.

Said Lakers coach JJ Redick, “I thought [LeBron] was great tonight.”

As L.A.’s season enters the home stretch, one thing is crystal clear: James needs to change. At 41, James is still posting enviable numbers: 21.4 points and 7.0 assists per game on 50.5% shooting. But the results, most notably alongside Reaves and Dončić, have not been there. Entering Thursday night, the trio had an offensive rating of 109.4. In context, only lottery-bound Indiana has a worse rating this season.

Conversely, when James has been out, Dončić and Reaves have thrived. The Lakers are 10–2 in games Dončić and Reaves have played without James. Playing together, they have an offensive rating of 117.9. They have a defensive rating of 111.6. With James, the net rating is -1.1. Without him, it’s +6.6. During James’s recent three-game absence, a rival assistant noted that his team believed it had a better chance to win with James on the floor.

Absurd, right? It’s not an indictment of James but the realities of the roster. The shocking availability of Dončić last February created an opportunity for the Lakers. It also imbalanced the lineup. James, Dončić and Reaves are all ball-dominant scorers. None are considered plus defenders. You can win with two players like that. You can’t with three.

The Lakers know it. On Thursday, Redick told reporters that he and James discussed his role this week. They had, said Redick, “a great conversation over the last couple days.” Added Redick, “He wants to do everything possible to help this team win. He understands the importance of making sure Luka and AR can be at their best. That’s incredible of him. It speaks a lot to just how much he cares about this team and his teammates and how much he wants to win.”

That was evident on Thursday. On the opening possession, James twice passed on shots to swing the ball to open teammates. He didn’t attempt a shot in the first quarter. He set screens. He rebounded. He defended. He camped out in the corner and allowed Dončić and Reaves to cook.

“He’s been a high-usage player and the No. 1 option his whole career, and I know he wants to win,” Redick said. “And he wants to do everything possible to help this team win, even if it looks a little bit differently.”

Said Reaves, “He’s one of the smartest guys to ever play the game of basketball. His ability to adapt and to figure out what the game needs is second to none. … When you got a player of that stature that’s willing to play the way the game needs [him] to play that just shows how selfless he is. He’s a leader by example for everybody in this locker room.”

It can’t be easy. James owns most of the NBA’s offensive records. He is the most prolific scorer in NBA history. Last week, he broke the record for career field goals made. He has the most 20-point games in league history. The most 30-point games, too. Asking James to play third wheel to Dončić and Reaves is like asking Gordon Ramsay to be a sous chef in his own kitchen.

But he has to. James knows it. With Jaxson Hayes and Maxi Kleber out, James saw the need to be a screen setter. Hayes is among the better Lakers players at rolling to the rim. “That’s a void that I could put myself in to help the team,” said James. With Dončić and Reaves scoring, James leaned into facilitating, to “allow AR and Luka to continue on the things that they’ve been doing.”

“The team is most important,” James said. “Everybody’s successful when we win. So yeah, it is a sacrifice. I know what I’m capable of still doing as an individual, but what’s important for this team, I’m able to adapt to what’s important for this team. That’s the only thing that matters. And the win is the only thing that matters.”

Even with its bizarrely inefficient lineup, the Lakers have been pretty good. Thursday’s win maintained Los Angeles’s tenuous hold on the third seed in the Western Conference. They will make the playoffs and any team led by Dončić has a chance to win a series once in it.

But any team with Dončić and James on it wants more. Beating the free-falling Bulls, who have three wins since Feb. 1, isn’t cause for celebration. But Dončić is averaging a season-best 34.7 points this month. For the second straight month Reaves is shooting better than 40% from three. On Thursday, Ayton racked up his second straight double-double. Without James, the Lakers “played good basketball,” he said. Over the final month of the season, they have the potential to be even better.

“You can build habits, you can build chemistry, you can build a way how you want to play when it comes to the postseason,” said James. “So every game matters. And the way that you approach the game matters and the details of approaching it every night.”

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