LeBron James hears criticism from Magic Johnson, Kobe, says he is being who he is

First, it was Magic Johnson on SiriusXM NBA radio last week, saying the team went out and got a lot of playmakers this offseason to go around LeBron James so everything didn’t have to run through him.

“Now it is Cleveland all over again and we don’t want that... We got a lot of ball handlers so we feel we won’t overuse him in terms of his ball handling and also every play has to run through him.”

Then on Monday night at a Lakers’ All-Access event, Kobe Bryant — a player more than happy to take over games when he felt it was the best way to win, which was a lot — offered a similar criticism, although more nuanced. Via Joe Varden The Athletic.

“At the beginning of the season, you saw a collection of individual talent trying to figure out what they can do and where they can do it on the floor,” Bryant said. “What about their games? But at the same time how to figure out how to make those games blend in as a group. You can’t have one before the other, see what I’m saying? So it’s a test of Bron’s patience, and also doing what he needs to do to keep the team’s head above water. So it’s a balancing act.”

Since Rajon Rondo went down with a hand injury nine games ago, the Lakers have run everything through LeBron, his usage rate in those games is 33.7 and he has looked better. LeBron, speaking to the media, acknowledged what Magic and Kobe said, but didn’t sound like a guy about to change things. Via Bill Oram of The Athletic:

LeBron says he understands where Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant were coming in from when they said Lakers can’t lean too heavily on him - but he doesn’t know what that means. pic.twitter.com/c1FWJphBaT

— Bill Oram (@billoram) December 4, 2018

“I don’t know what asking me to do too much is, to be honest... I understand the logic behind what Magic and Kobe are saying because we want to grow the young guys... But, I mean, Magic and Kobe know who I am. I know who I am They know what they’re going to get out of me. That is, you know what you’re going to get out of me every game... When it’s really, really, really money time, you know who is going to be there.”

The fact is the Lakers offense has struggled the last nine games since Rajon Rondo went down, scoring 104.5 points per 100 possessions, which is bottom five in the league. However, the Lakers are 6-3 in that stretch thanks to top-five defense (102 per 100) and some timely plays from LeBron.

More to the point, what exactly did Magic expect? His roster of “playmakers” doesn’t exactly have a lot of good playmakers outside LeBron and Lonzo Ball. Brandon Ingram can create for himself, but he’s not a facilitator. Does Magic think Lance Stephenson should get more touches? Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart have succeeded because they’re finishers and shooters, the kinds of players who have always thrived next to LeBron.

LeBron is one of the best playmakers to ever play the game. Trust him. And if you want to spread the ball around more, then go get another superstar playmaker (which is the plan). Right now, this is who the Lakers are, this is the team Magic (and GM Rob Pelinka) built. Like it or not.