Dave McMenamin of ESPN dropped a long-form feature on what went wrong for LeBron James and the Lakers this season on Friday morning, and the whole thing is a must-read in its entirety.
Within it, the best anecdote is saved for last, when McMenamin describes a conversation he had with James at shootaround before the Lakers’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks a few weeks ago. He asked James about the Lakers’ decision to surround him with playmakers instead of shooters, and well, I won’t spoil James’ answer (via ESPN):
For the first time in years, James wasn’t surrounded by elite-level shooters.