The Los Angeles Lakers are bound to miss the playoffs for the sixth straight year, which means LeBron James' streak of 13 consecutive appearances in the postseason and eight straight appearances in the NBA Finals are also going to end.
However, in the eyes of former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Kevin Love, not making the playoffs will just make LeBron more dangerous next year.
“He’s so strong physically and so strong mentally but just having that break, being able to reassess and come back really, really highly motivated is going to be big for him. If you get Bron highly motivated anything can happen,” Love told Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
LeBron James went down with a groin injury last December, the time when the Lakers were fourth in the Western Conference. Since then, things went south for the Purple and Gold, as injuries and inconsistencies haunted them all year.
James returned to the line-up before the All-Star break, but nothing has really changed. In fact, he suffered the worst defeat of his career when the Indiana Pacers handed the Lakers a 42-point blowout in February.
The All-Star forward did his best to help the team win, but the struggles were just too much to overcome, even for him.
Cavs head coach Larry Drew, who worked with LeBron as an assistant with Cleveland, has witnessed how great LeBron can be during his four-year stint with the team. And just like Kevin Love, he believes James will be back with a vengeance next year.
“I think it’s going to motivate him even more. I think it’s going to fuel him even more. That’s the kind of player he is. He is a driven player.”
LeBron will have the opportunity to prove himself next season, but the Lakers will also have to make moves to improve the roster if they want to give James the best chance of helping the franchise win a championship.
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