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MINNEAPOLIS – On Monday night, 15 years after the first game of his NBA career with LeBron James, LeBron's Los Angeles Lakers lost the game again. The five defeats of the season were 10 points or less; Monday's 124-120 defeat was in the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Jimmy Butler, a scorching man who scored five shots on goal at three shots in the fourth quarter.
Patience, Says Luke Walton, coach of the Lakers.
The loss brought the Lakers down to 2-5, tied for 11th in the Western Conference. This has been the worst start to the season for a LeBron James team since rookie year.
Chemistry takes time, Says LeBron.
When LeBron was 18 and he was playing for his home town, Cleveland Cavaliers, in 2003, his career in the NBA started on a bumpy road. The Cavs lost their first five games with LeBron before taking a 4-15 start. It was one of the two seasons of LeBron's career during which he missed the playoffs, the other being the following year, when the Cavaliers started 0-3 and missed the playoffs on a break of equality.
There have certainly been other slow starts to the LeBron seasons since then. His first season in Miami, the Heat started 8-7. In 2014-15, LeBron's first year in Cleveland, the Cavaliers started 5-7. Last year, the Cavs started at 5-7. But all three teams found their rhythm and participated in the finals of the NBA.
When LeBron decided to sign with the Lakers for the off season, he knew two things: the first is that all the pressure would be on his shoulders, maybe even more than before, because he's still pursuing Michael Jordan as GOAT player and the Lakers are competing with the Boston Celtics as G.O.A.T. franchise. And secondly, it was a young team, and young teams take time. They take patience. They are promising while generating frustration.
The young teams are doing what the Lakers did Monday night. Such as:
Do not follow the game plans. "We have to improve in the little things: pay attention to details, follow the plans," Walton said after the match. "Tonight's game plan: move them away from the free throw line and the defensive rebound, they hurt us both." Specifically, the Timberwolves shot 30 free throws and made 26, while the Lakers threw 15 free throws and made 10. It's hard to win games when you put your opponent 30 times on the line. "
To be jostled on the offensive glass. "We gave up 20 offensive rebounds," LeBron said afterwards. "We knew that when they got into the game, they were a very good offensive rebound team, and we stressed that, including – and we still allowed them to score second chances. Do not do that on the road, especially when you play the defense of the way we played. "
Speaking of the following: play a defenseless, defenseless defense, which can turn into a blinding attack,. The Lakers were confused of the tip. Walton stated that they were "soft" in defense and that they were "lazy" with their deaths; If ever there were two words to describe a young team, "sweet" and "lazy" are those. "We had plenty of opportunities to run early and we did not take advantage because we were just throwing the ball," Walton said. "You have a chance to score and do what we do best, to run, we have to make the most of it, we can not try to pass at home or lazy passes."
And finally: not finishing the games. The Lakers could certainly have won this game. I would say that they should have. But in the middle of the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves suddenly got hot. They made eight 3s in the last quarter, and it was more complex than just sometimes the ball falls through the hoop and sometimes not. Many of these 3 involved defensive errors, as the Lakers defenders did not follow the defensive plan. "We went under (Butler) twice," said Walton. "The bench was screaming, the blanket had to join him, force him to get off the 3-point line, we did not do it, we just got better, it's the same story."
Forget the veterans who signed a one-year contract. The core of the Lakers formation surrounding LeBron – the players who really matter if this franchise wants to compete for future championships – is incredibly young. Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram are 21 years old. Josh Hart and Kyle Kuzma are 23 years old. Svi Mykhailiuk, who is perhaps the best shooter on this hungry team, is 21 years old. He is the first team in LeBron's career where he is the oldest player. It's not really a surprise if this team had a bumpy start to the season and a 1-5 record in tight games. That's what young teams do.
So, you have to be patient.
But what happens when this patience runs out?
What happens when he is exhausted with fans? Or with the front office?
Specifically, what happens when LeBron's patience runs out?
I asked him that Monday night. I asked him what he looked like as a leader when he was out of patience.
"You probably do not want to be here when I miss my patience," he replied.
Pause.
"I'm serious."
This team is not yet in panic. Their early season fights were tainted by the fight against the Houston Rockets and the resulting suspensions for Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram, which could not have helped their quest for chemistry. There were good signs Monday night. Ingram looked hungry in his first match after his suspension. He could have had more than 24 points if he had not had big problems. Walton played with his combinations, especially with Ingram when LeBron was outside the field. It worked. Ingram scored zero in seven minutes in the first half with LeBron on the field and 17 in six minutes in the first half with LeBron off the court. Ingram also made three of his three, while playing aggressively in defense, blocking three shots.
But after the match, the frustrations exceeded the positive signs.
"We're talking patience, but we can not have recurrences of the same thing," LeBron said. "Do the same things over and over again and expect a different outcome – it's madness, we need to improve."
And they will be better. Of course, they will do it. Five of their next seven games are at home, and they have some of what should be disappointments against Dallas, Sacramento and Atlanta. Chemistry takes time and, like almost every LeBron team that has had a difficult start to the season, this team is going to improve. Maybe not exponentially, but they will improve.
And they improve better. Because patience is a virtue, but it will not last forever. Hell, it may not last until Thanksgiving.
"The return flight will be difficult, but as I told our guys, no one is complaining to us," Walton said. "It's up to us to understand it and to start winning some of those tight games, and we'll do it, I can promise you, we'll start winning."
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