THERE IS EXACTLY 124 courtside seating inside Crypto.com Arena for every Los Angeles Lakers home game. Getting a pair of them for any game is no easy task. For corporations, they are an investment, not a luxury. For celebrities, they are the ultimate status symbol. No one goes to as much trouble as necessary to secure them without an agenda.
That's why so many heads turned and cell phone cameras went off before Game 6 of the Lakers' first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies. It was April 28, 2023. The Lakers were up three games to two and looking to advance beyond the first round for the first time since their championship in the Orlando bubble in 2020. The atmosphere was electric. Jack Nicholson, 86, even made a rare public appearance to sit in the courtside seats he has occupied since the 1970s.
Minutes before kickoff, a man dressed in a smart black and white T-shirt walked to two seats on the court in front of the Lakers' bench. And it didn't take long for his presence to be noticed. It was Kyrie Irving.
During pregame warmups, Lakers star LeBron James walked up to his former teammate, caressed him in the same complex handshake they had devised in Cleveland, and hugged him.
Irving lives in Los Angeles during the offseason and had an open schedule after the Dallas Mavericks failed to make the playoffs. But he was also about to become a free agent and, according to sources close to him, Irving had a strong interest in reuniting with James, the man with whom he had won an NBA championship as a Cavaliers in 2016, either in Los Angeles . Angeles or Dallas.
Irving was there, sources close to him say, to send that same message.
For nearly a year, the Lakers had extended internal discussions about whether to pursue Irving through a trade or free agency, sources said. They had called the Brooklyn Nets to show interest in trading for him on several occasions since June 2022, when Irving and the Nets could not come to an agreement on a long-term extension. They weighed the risks of investing in the mercurial and often controversial point guard against the benefits of his still-prodigious talent and his obvious compatibility with James and Anthony Davis.
James was open to the idea, sources said, but was careful not to do anything that could be seen as a push while the organization was still trying to extricate itself from the unfortunate experiment with Russell Westbrook.
Three weeks later, Irving appeared again, this time for Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, a series the Lakers would lose in a sweep against the Denver Nuggets, the eventual NBA champions.
By then, however, the Lakers' decision to pursue Irving was debatable. The Mavericks kept their Bird rights and were determined to keep the pairing with Luka Doncic. And the Lakers had just completed a stunning run in the Western Conference. And so, a few hours after the opening of free agency, Irving re-signed with the Mavs for three years and $126 million, while the Lakers prioritized continuity and increasing margins, retaining their own free agents – Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves-. and acquire guard Gabe Vincent from the Miami Heat.
At the time, the Lakers were praised for their astute offseason. For their strength in trusting in the winning combination they had built at the trade deadline. For learning from Westbrook's experiment by focusing on team building, rather than chasing stars.
There was internal debate about whether the team had enough speed to keep up with the speedy guards in the Western Conference, but ultimately, sources said, the team decided it wasn't a concern they needed to address yet.
Seven months later, now with 23 days left until the trade deadline and Davis and James, 39, are healthy and playing better than ever together, the impact of that pick resonates with every loss, every whisper of frustration with the lineup. . inconsistencies, every game in which the Lakers are outshot or run off the court.
Irving, for his part, has avoided the off-court incidents that derailed his time in Brooklyn and gave pause to teams considering a long-term commitment to him. He has regained his stature as one of the NBA's best point guards as he leads the Mavericks (24-17) into Wednesday's game (ABC, 8:30 p.m. ET) against the Lakers (20-21), while James & Co. They have struggled to find consistent point guard play all season and are just one game better than they were at this juncture last year.
“I don't think I blame [the Lakers] for doing what they did,” a Western Conference executive told ESPN. “Kyrie hadn't proven he could be stable, like he has been this season. [And] “LeBron is simultaneously the player who brings the most life to an organization, but also the ultimate force multiplier who makes you believe you are better than you are because he simply makes everything work.”
THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL The question the Lakers must address as they pass the halfway point of this season and evaluate their team before the Feb. 8 trade deadline is this: Was last year's playoff run a James-fueled mirage?
The most significant personnel change from last year's group was the trade of Dennis Schroder for Vincent at point guard, a move that sources said was due to both Schroder seeking a larger role and the Lakers' preference. because of Vincent's shooting and space. -creative capacity.
Vincent has missed all but five games with a knee injury, while Schroder has thrived with the Toronto Raptors.
What is indisputable, however, is the historical burden that James carries.
Since December 12 and the Lakers' victory in the season tournament to win the first NBA Cup, James has brought the ball up the court in 30.6 possessions per game, 50% more than in the first 23 Los Angeles games. His touches per match: almost 20% more. Your passes per game: up to 23%. His minutes per game: increase more than 8%, up to 36 per game.
But the Lakers are missing James' minutes by a wide margin in this span, outscored by 118 points when James is on the court. It's his worst plus-minus in a 15-game span since he joined the Lakers.
“It's too much for Bron right now,” a rival player whose team recently defeated the Lakers told ESPN. “Everyone is going to pack the paint and try to frustrate him because they need a lot. Speed, playmaking and shooting.”
All areas in which Irving excels.
FOR THOSE WHO Looking at the way Irving and James' tenure in Cleveland ended, it may be difficult to imagine a reunion. Irving asked for a trade after the 2017 season, apparently to prove that he could lead his own team and leave town before James had the chance to leave as a free agent the following season.
It was one of the most shocking trade requests in recent NBA history, following a streak of three consecutive NBA Finals appearances.
“Kyrie and LeBron weren't as toxic as Shaq [O’Neal] and kobe [Bryant]”But there are a lot of similarities,” a source close to the situation told ESPN. “Kobe wanted to show he could win without Shaq. And he did. But you always wonder what would have happened if they had stayed together. Just like you wonder what would have happened if [Stephon] Marbury and [Kevin] Garnett would have stayed together.”
Another source close to both players points to an emotional players-only meeting in the locker room after Game 5 of the 2017 Finals in which James and Irving spoke at length, not only about the season they had just played, but also about a shared vision. for the future that included trading for then-Indiana Pacers forward Paul George.
George told ESPN that he and James had dinner at James' home in Los Angeles after the 2017 season and discussed a possible partnership.
There were several iterations of trade discussions, first before the NBA draft by former Cavaliers general manager David Griffin, then by current Cleveland general manager Koby Altman, who took over when Griffin left.
Ultimately, those discussions, which included the Nuggets, Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns, stalled over an unprotected first-round pick, which the Cavaliers refused to include without a long-term commitment from James.
George was later traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Irving then asked for a trade and was sent to the Boston Celtics. A year later, James signed with the Lakers.
It's one of the great sliding door moments in recent NBA history. And it comes up every time James and Irving play against each other, rather than against each other.
Outside of an All-Star Game, this is probably what the situation will be like between James and Irving.
By all indications, Irving is happy in Dallas and with the way he's been received.
Meanwhile, the Lakers are 6-12 since the season tournament concluded. They have been outscored by 94 points in that span when both James and Davis are on the court. LeBron is shooting 11 percentage points less on layups and dunks. The Lakers' offense ranks 29th in average speed and 28th in average walking/standing time, according to Second Spectrum tracking.
The decision to run it again, the fog of surprising success, has led to a very precarious moment, one that could determine the future of the franchise in both the short and long term.
James and the Lakers will look to improve once again at the trade deadline, but have few avenues to significantly rebuild the roster.
All that remains is a shared history and an endless list of what ifs.
