As we've come to know over the past few weeks, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2005. Their 111-106 loss Friday night at the hands of the Brooklyn Nets only made it official.
With that out of the way, James will have the entire summer to reflect and think about how his first season in Los Angeles went wrong. However, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, LeBron wouldn't do anything differently:
I asked him last week in Chicago if he, LeBron, looking back, would do anything differently after joining the Lakers, and he said “No.”
It's no secret that James can still produce with the best the league has to offer. In what many are perceiving as a down year, King James is still averaging 27.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 8.1 assists, virtually his career numbers.
But injuries and drama derailed the Lakers' season. The fact that James has failed to lead this young group to the postseason is seen as a failure by many.
Still, the burden shouldn't be entirely on the 34-year-old superstar's broad shoulders. Remember, the Lakers were the No. 4 seed prior to James' groin injury, which he suffered on Christmas Day. James missed 17 consecutive games, and Los Angeles eventually fell out of playoff contention.
That Christmas Day injury proved to be the turning point for the Lakers, as they never really recovered from that. Sure, the midseason Anthony Davis trade saga, which James had a hand in, shook up the team's chemistry. But still, it is inarguable that the Lakers would be in a much better place right now if James had been healthy throughout the season.
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