The Los Angeles Lakers seem to be in big trouble. They lost against the Mavericks on Sunday night in their first game without both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. With them gone, LeBron James had to fill the void and tried his best to do so.
In the end, James was outplayed by rookie Cooper Flagg. Flagg set some NBA history in doing so, becoming the first rookie to score back-to-back 40-point games since Allen Iverson. He is making a strong late push to win Rookie of the Year, something James knows about.
Following this game, James gave Flagg the ultimate praise by comparing him to himself.
LeBron James Compares Cooper Flagg to Himself
James told the media that he sees a lot of himself as a rookie in Flagg.
“I love what he’s doing. I love what he’s bringing to this franchise. He looks like he loves the game. He’s putting in the work. J-Kidd got a little scrutinized early on because they started him at PG at times. I thought that was unfair. I think it’s great to put the ball in somebody’s hands so they can just go through the rough patches; when you go through the rough patches, it allows you to grow at a rate faster than other players.”
James then gave some love to his former coach for doing the same thing for him.
That’s what Paul Silas, rest his soul, did for me. My rookie year, I basically stared at PG early on. He allowed me to make mistakes and read tough defenses…So, I see similarities in that on the basketball floor. Off the court, it’s a little different.”
James is familiar with what it means to be the face of the franchise as a rookie. He has been the face of the franchise for three different organizations over the course of his career. Flagg has been doing his best James impression on the court this year.
The Lakers Are Desperate to Finish the Season
After finally getting healthy, the Lakers are more injured than they have been at any point in the season. Doncic and Reaves are expected to miss several weeks. Doncic is headed to Europe to get treatment for his injury to try to speed things up. They are also still missing Marcus Smart.
Finishing the regular season as soon as possible without further injury is something the Lakers desperately need to do. Los Angeles has no chance of advancing in the second round of the playoffs if they can’t get at least one of their starting guards back.
If they flame out at the end of the year, this would be a disappointing end to what could be James’ final season in Los Angeles. It is very likely that he either plays elsewhere next season or retires. Doncic will be tasked with being the face of the future next year.
Doncic has struggled to stay healthy at the end of the year more than once in his career. It was one of the reasons why the Mavericks decided to trade him and build around Flagg.
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