“LeBron James has not made his quest to add to his three NBA titles by heading to the tougher dog-eat-dog world of the Western Conference. Signing with the Los Angeles Lakers may be a glittery move, but it is not going to give the four-time NBA MVP an easier path to the Western Conference Finals, let alone to the NBA Finals. James is also a basketball savant, so obviously, he’s been aware of such consequences.

Rachel Nichols of ESPN recently had a sit-down interview with LeBron James, and when she pointed out some differences between playing in a different conference, like having to worry about a 50-50 record that could be considered a safe one in the East by the All-Star break but not so much for Western Conference teams, the three-time NBA champion coolly responded by drawing from his experience and confidence in his new teammates.

“Oh, absolutely. I mean that's all part of the mindset. There's gonna be times, being a young group playing together, that we're gonna have times where guys are gonna question what's goin' on. And that's just human nature. I understand that. But I've always been a part of it. I know a lot about the ups and downs of a season.”

James also implied that he plans to lead the team by developing winning habits slowly as the season progresses.

“And one thing we can't do is lose focus on what the main goal is, and the main goal is to continue to be as great as we can be every day. Build championship habits — and I'm not even saying that we're a championship team now — but building championship habits so when we get to that point– we can fall back on something. We have a great young core. We have great veterans. We have a great system and a great organization, more importantly. So it should be fine.”

James has been a winner in the NBA regardless of how many times critics point to his losing NBA Finals record, so he definitely knows what he’s talking about.