After losing the 2014 Finals, James made a decision two — to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Although this decision allowed the Cavaliers to regain the ability to compete for the championship, it also made Irving, who had enjoyed the rights of the team boss for three years in the Cavaliers, completely become the second boss of the team.
In the three years since James returned to the Cavaliers to join forces with Irving and Love, he led the team to the Finals for three consecutive years, and also defeated the invincible 73-win Warriors in 16 years to win the championship trophy. But even so, Irving, who had teamed up with James to win the championship trophy in the 2016 finals, chose to "run away" without warning in the 17 offseason.
17-18 season: Irving is absent, Love is down, and no one thinks James can lead the team to the Finals
After Irving's departure, the individual performance of Lefour, one of the Cavaliers' big three, almost determined whether the Cavaliers had the possibility of impacting the Finals. If Luck can return to the Timberwolves' 25+10 super interior performance, then even if the Cavaliers only have the combination of "James + Love", there is a great chance of breaking out of the East.
However, after Irving's departure, Le Fu did not take on the responsibility of the second leader of the team, and the average per game fell to 17.6 points, 9.3 boards, 1.7 assists, and 45.8% shooting. It is simply impossible to effectively help the team on the field and at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends.
And Wade, who had high hopes, thomas jr., who scored 28.9 points before the big injury, also did not play the expected performance next to James, averaging only 11.2 points, 3.9 boards, 3.5 assists, 45.5% shooting percentage, 14.7 points, 2.1 assists, 4.5 assists, 36.1% shooting percentage, and finally became a chip for the Cavaliers in exchange for "young people".
In the case of Irving's departure, Love continued to decline, and new signings such as Wade and Thomas Jr. could not play the expected performance, there was basically no one in the outside world who was optimistic that the Cavaliers could still rush out of the East and reach the Finals. However, James did not lose confidence, when the Cavaliers were in trouble and no one was available - James averaged 27.5 points, 8.6 boards, 9.1 assists per game, 54.2% of the superstar data, and forcibly brought the Cavaliers to the fourth place in the East.
In the playoffs, although the 18-year Cavaliers exchanged Wade, Thomas Jr. and others for many "young people", their immediate combat strength and experience were relatively limited; resulting in James becoming the only person the Cavaliers could rely on after Irving's departure.
In the first round of the playoffs in 2018, the Cavaliers faced a "second-rate team" like the Pacers, and they were forced to grab the seven battles; fortunately, in the seven-time battle, James completely broke out, bombarded 45 points, 8 boards and 7 assists, 64.0% shooting percentage performance, and forcibly led the Cavaliers to advance to the second round; and when the Cavaliers were 2-3 behind in the Eastern Conference Finals, James G6 cut 46 points, 11 boards and 9 assists, G7 cut 35 points, 15 boards and 9 assists, once again saving the Cavaliers from the edge of elimination...
It is precisely because of James's outstanding performance in the three rounds of the Eastern Conference playoffs in 2018 that he was named "Thanos". However, even if the 18-year finals were "Thanos Zhan", facing the tsunami brothers at their peak, they could not stop their super offensive firepower.
In the 18th Finals G1, James blasted down 49 points, 7 boards and 8 assists in regular time, leading the Cavaliers and the Warriors to a stalemate to the end, but unfortunately due to JR's "cerebral palsy" behavior, the Cavaliers missed the opportunity to win the Warriors in the last moment. In the end, James, who was exhausted, was unable to return to the sky in overtime, only got 2 points and 1 board, leading the team to lose the game 114-124...
However, although James failed to win the championship in the 18-year Finals, his image of "Thanos Jam" was deeply rooted in people's hearts, always making people think that even if he was given a team on the edge of the playoffs, he could bring the team to the Finals...
21-22 season: When the thick eyebrows retire and Wei Shao pulls the crotch, "Thanos" becomes the only hope of the Lakers?
Given the results of last season's seventh+ playoff first round in the West, Lakers management had to emulate the Nets and force a Big Three lineup. It's just that even if the Lakers formed a "Zhan Weimei" super big three combination, due to chemical reactions and personal playing styles, they have never been able to play a dominant role in the new season.
And that's not the worst-case scenario, what's worse is that Thick Brow was injured in the previous game against the Timberwolves. Thick eyebrows have been absent for a long time due to injury, which is tantamount to a thunderbolt on a sunny day for the Lakers who are already stumbling in the new season.
So in the absence of thick eyebrows, Westbrook performance and crotch, the outside world completely put expectations on James, hoping that he can play the 17-18 season "Thanos Zhan"-like super performance, forcibly lead the Lakers into the top four in the West, forcibly lead the Lakers to rush out of the West...
After all, after the thick eyebrow injury, the Lakers want to win, can not expect the attack and defense of the opposite "crotch" wei shao, even the team offseason to form a so-called new championship lineup, no one can stand up when the team is in danger. Therefore, in order to ensure the team's regular season record and avoid the team from repeating the mistakes of last season, James had to open the "Thanos" mode in advance in an attempt to stabilize the record with his own strength.
"Honest and old, can you still eat?" At present, some people have great expectations for "Thanos", believing that he can lead the Lakers back to the top; some people think that with James's current age and state, it is no longer possible to force a team like 18 years.
In the recent Lakers vs Grizzlies game, James continued to explode output, bombarding 37 points, 13 boards and 7 assists, 52% of the personal performance of shooting percentage; and Wei Shao also had a triple-double performance of 16 points, 10 boards and 12 assists, but the Lakers could not prevent Morant at all, allowing him to bomb down 41 points and 10 boards, and finally the Lakers lost to the Grizzlies 99-104...
It's not necessarily true to say how formidable the Grizzlies are; it's not true to say that the Grizzlies are a weak team. Judging from the overall performance of the new season, the Grizzlies are more like a strong team detector, and they can beat them naturally with strong team strength, but if even the Grizzlies can't win, the actual situation of the team can be imagined.
From the game between the Grizzlies and the Lakers, it is enough to show that even if James plays a "Thanos" performance, he cannot win alone. This also led to the fact that after the thick eyebrow injury and the loss to the Grizzlies, although James maintained 34.8 points, 10.5 boards, 6.5 assists, 57.4% shooting percentage, and played a personal performance similar to "18 Years Thanos"; even Westbrook also had a personal performance of 20+10+8, but the Lakers lost six of the last seven games, and the team's record fell to the seventh level in the West...
Six defeats in the last seven battles! When the thick eyebrows retreat and Wei Shao pulls his crotch, even "Thanos Zhan" can't save the Lakers
In fact, the main reason for the Lakers' poor record in the new season is not in the play of the stars. After all, the combination of James, Thick Eyebrows, and Westbrook, in any case, the strength of 3 20+ stars alone has actually surpassed most teams.
But why can't they play a dominant role, and their record is not as good as that of the Warriors, the Suns and other teams? The main reason is that in the offseason, the Lakers management in order to get Wei Shao, resulting in a tight salary space for the team, can only introduce some veterans who have passed the peak period + have certain offensive capabilities to join.
If you only bring in one or two experienced veterans, it is indeed a "very fragrant" thing. However, the Lakers' current team lineup is seriously aging, although it will not lead to the lakers' complete collapse on the offensive end, but the defensive end has never reached the level of a strong team - because in the current Lakers' lineup, the outside line is either a defensive loophole player or a weak player on the defensive end.
In the 17-18 season, when the Cavaliers introduced Wade, Rose, Thomas Jr., etc., did not perform as expected, they were able to "stop loss" in time, as a chip to exchange clarkson, Larry Nance, George Hill and others, and use their active defensive and offensive capabilities to maximize James's personal ability. Otherwise, in 18 years, with the Cavaliers Wade, Thomas Jr. and other people attacking can not meet expectations, defensive loopholes of defense, no matter how strong James is, they will not be able to reach the Finals.
Now the Lakers seem to be facing similar problems to the Cavaliers of that year, and even more seriously, the current Lakers do not have too good chips to adjust the lineup except for the big three. But if the follow-up Lakers lineup remains unchanged, then even if the new season returns with thick eyebrows, even if James plays a "Thanos Jam" performance again, it will not save this Lakers team...