The Los Angeles Lakers signing LeBron James in free agency essentially made the team instant title contenders in the public consciousness, even if it didn’t necessarily raise them to the level of the Golden State Warriors.
However, James himself has previously demurred on those expectations. In his first comments since joining the team back in July, he had told reporters that he didn’t have “any” expectations for the team just yet, but that they “definitely want to be better than we were after the previous year, and we want to have championship (habits).