The Los Angeles Lakers are still dealing with their opening round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Despite owning home-court advantage, the Purple and Gold were eliminated in five games, and LeBron James appears to be pointing fingers at whose fault that was.
During a recent episode of the Mind the Game podcast starring LeBron and NBA legend Steve Nash, James touched on the Lakers' failed playoff run and how his approach to handling such disappointments has changed over the years. Interestingly enough, his focus was more on the rest of the roster than himself.
“I’ve definitely learned over the years that teams win championships," James said. "Always… I don’t lose sleep over that like, ‘F***, how did me and Luka lose?’ Well, there’s eight other guys on the floor.”
LeBron on the media narratives following the Lakers losing to the Timberwolves:
“I’ve definitely learned over the years that teams win championships. Always… I don’t lose sleep over that like, ‘F***, how did me and Luka lose?’ Well, there’s 8 other guys on the floor.”
(via… pic.twitter.com/Ad7OWMEdz7— Witness King James (@WITNESSKJ) May 8, 2025
With the way the media has fixated on LeBron and whatever team he is part of for the bulk of his professional career, James' outlook on team success and failure has evolved. With the way that every move he makes both on and off the court is scrutinized by the media, the fact that we see James put these sorts of walls up at this stage of his career isn't overly surprising.
Basketball is a team sport and James is right with regard to there being a number of other players on the roster who are just as responsible as he and Doncic are for Los Angeles not escaping the first round.
With that being said, James has also been around the league long enough to know that comments like these will be dissected to form even more narratives from the media concerning his future with the Lakers. Acknowledging that his teammates may not have played up to par doesn't fully excuse him or Doncic from criticism, no matter what their individual statistics may have looked like.
There will be changes made to the roster this offseason, and James is likely to cash in on a new deal, so the pressure will be on Rob Pelinka to build a roster that maximizes the time LeBron can continue to play at such a high-level in the NBA.
If this isn't a signal to the front office to do a better job of finding the right talent to put around himself and Doncic, I am not quite sure what is. LeBron leaving Los Angeles at this stage of his career, when his oldest son is part of the franchise, makes very little sense. Comments like these, though, will set off alarms throughout the front office as the Lakers turn their attention to free agency.
