Despite the news of the signing of LeBron James being a month old, the critics of the Los Angeles Lakers and their successful coup still remain as strong as ever. This time around, its the alleged effortlessness of the deal that is being put on the spotlight, with claims stating that all L.A. had to do to land James was to simply “not f*ck up.”

In their write-up for ESPN, Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk detailed how one anonymous NBA player — who apparently had insider knowledge on the LeBron deal — believed that the Lakers had very little to do to acquire the signature of the 33-year-old.

“He wanted to come to L.A.,” one Western Conference player said. ‘They just had to not f— it up.'”

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It was an open secret that LeBron had a desire to live in Los Angeles at one point in his career — a fact that was confirmed when he recently signed a contract with the Lakers that would keep him in L.A. for the next four years. In this regard, the “not f*ck up” statement does hold some merit.

Nonetheless, there were a couple of other teams that gave Lakers president Magic Johnson and his front office a run for their money. The Philadelphia 76ers and their young and hungry core were one, while the Houston Rockets and their win-now proposition was another. LeBron is an intelligent man, and surely, he would have at least given these offers some thought.

Credit needs to be given where it is due, and the Lakers did succeed in landing James this summer, so at least some praise needs to be thrown towards their direction.