Despite what you may hear in commercials and media, New York is not the Mecca of basketball - it's Los Angeles. Tinseltown is the entertainment capital of the world, and its premier NBA team just saw its stock rise exponentially, and it's because of one man.
Even at 33 years old and after 15 years in the league, LeBron James is still, by and large, the most valuable player on the free agency market. This is bigger than when he went to the Miami Heat. This is bigger than when he returned to Cleveland.
Miami is a lively city, and Cleveland has a championship more recently. But neither has as many iconic names as the Lakers have had with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal among many more.
If he hasn't already, LeBron has a chance to establish himself as the G.O.A.T, the greatest of all time, by doing something no other star player has done. He can lead a third different franchise to an NBA championship. John Salley and Robert "Big Shot Bob" Horry have won a title with three different teams, but come on. They were riding in the car. They didn't carry the weight of franchises like James has throughout the years. A championship in L.A. would not only be valuable to James. It would be the 17th championship for the Lakers, which would tie the Boston Celtics for the most among all franchises.
The four-time MVP has not said why he made the decision to sign with the Lakers, but it's likely he made the decision based on what's best for his family. James obviously wants to win championships, but a roster that just came off a 35-win season doesn't scream that it's Finals-bound. The addition of JaVale McGee, Lance Stephenson and Rajon Rondo to add to himself and Lonzo Ball doesn't scream Dream Team. It's more like the Meme Team.
The Lakers have enough cap space for another max deal, which will either be used this summer or in 2019. Paul George decided he'd rather play with Russell Westbrook and leave the playoffs in the second round than play with LeBron and possibly make the Finals. So the Lakers next-best hope is someone even better, Kawhi Leonard.
Another thing James has managed to do is save the legacy of fellow Laker Magic Johnson. Last week, Colin Cowherd discussed this on his show, and frankly, he's probably right. Magic and Michael Jordan are two of the best basketball players to ever walk planet Earth. While Jordan is usually considered the better player, he has been an awful owner of the Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets. Magic has the chance to elevate his own legacy but doing what seems impossible nowadays: be a great player and then a great executive. Magic hasn't had a lot of time in a front office, but landing LeBron James is certainly a milestone he can hang his hat on.
Lakers fans for over a decade now think they're the favorites to land any marquee free agent, and usually, they're wrong. LeBron James going to the Lakers has been a rumor spread for the better part of a decade, and now it's finally happening. This is the most hyped free agency signing in NBA history. Anything less than a championship in his tenure in Los Angeles will be considered a failure to many. Regardless, this is a fantasy come true for many basketball fans, and it could be legendary.
