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In July, the NBA appeared to have won gold, as LeBron James – the most famous athlete in North America and perhaps the world – joined the league's first franchise in the world's entertainment capital at its peak or near . The NBA should have retweeted the news with a money bag emoji.
Alas. The Lakers' malaise after Kobe was stronger than the ability of an aging LeBron to extract LA from mediocrity. L.A. fell from the playoff race in February and was found eliminated in March.
Not only will the NBA remain with a moribund Lakers franchise, but for the first time in a long time, the league will have a post-season without its biggest star.
This is an absolute disaster for the league, the Lakers and LeBron.
For his part, James came to L.A. to give his young family everything he wanted and to build his second act as an entertainment mogul. Space Jam 2 come. LeBron's Spring Hill Entertainment produces projects left and right. Bronny James will probably be the most famous high school player since his father.
But LA also wanted to restore his glory to a legendary but broken franchise. It was about cultivating James' personal legend in an already legendary jersey, joining the pantheon of Mikan, Baylor, West, Kareem, Magic, Van Exel, Shaq and, yes, Kobe. It was about hitting the Warriors from another angle, perhaps with another star partner.
It was not about winning 35 games and being on a beach at Easter.
LeBron's status as a Lakers legend is currently between Karl Malone and Gary Payton. It's a nightmare.
No one needs to explain why this situation is so bleak for the Lakers, who can not seem to come out of their own hole. They finally recruited a major free agent – the biggest free agent of all! – and this is the result. It's like saving for years to buy a new car and break it on the way home. What an incredible disappointment.
As far as the NBA is concerned, not only has she not been able to see the full potential of a star as brilliant as LeBron in the spotlight as bright as for the Los Angeles Lakers, but the league has not even today. 39, which is his biggest star in the world. playoffs at all. The Eastern Conference playoffs have not always been as convincing in the last fifteen years, but the league could still sell fans and casual viewers with LeBron's presence. Look, and you could witness something glorious.
This promise will not be fulfilled this spring.
In fact, if the ratings deteriorate during the playoffs, it could show the NBA the danger of relying so much on a star. We must not lose on what this league suffered terribly when Michael Jordan retired for the second time after the 1997-98 season. Much of the success of the league in the 90s ends with the dominance of Jordan and the Bulls. At the end of this game, the league (and the only shoe company closely linked to the league, Jordan and, not by chance, LeBron) did not really have a quick pivot in their arsenal.
The NBA has other exciting superstars to put on a pedestal. Many of these exciting superstars will to be in the playoffs. Maybe this post-season without LeBron can be – instead of curbing profits – an opportunity to continue building the next LeBrons.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, considering his incredible talent, shocking physique and golden personality, seems to be the obvious successor to LeBron's Golden Boy title in the NBA. Giannis plays for the leading group of the East, the Bucks, a team that has not had much success recently, but has a history rich enough in history during the first decades of the league. Antetokounmpo has a global fan base and he looks a lot like LeBron in the sense that he has captured the hearts of occasional fans around him, as well as hardcore basketball fanatics. Like LeBron, Giannis is for everyone (except the enemies of Boston or Philly).
The NBA put Giannis and the Bucks on Christmas Day … in the midday match against the Knicks.
If Giannis is the next LeBron in the marketing sense, the league must make marketing a higher priority. That can start now in LeBron's emptiness as the Bucks look like a legitimate threat to the NBA finals and Giannis can win the MVP title. Assuming the Bucks do not come out early, this post-season should allow all children in this country moderately interested in basketball to spend all summer imitating Giannis on court and asking for an Antetokounmpo jersey. and his shoes (the Nike Freak 1s would have hit this summer) for their next birthday.
Zion Williamson, of course, will be a huge opportunity for post-LeBron marketing largesse. Luka Doncic, Trae Young, a retired and post-burner Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Donovan Mitchell, smiling young kings, Joel Embiid, the remaining warriors, maybe someday Anthony Davis, maybe one day Karl-Anthony Cities – there are options. But the NBA and Nike need to start investing in players to get something that allows them to take advantage of the real world renown when the opportunity arises.
If not, I guess we'll all wait for Bronny.
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