LeBron James left the Los Angeles Lakers in the offseason. With Luka Doncic on their roster, they are primed to avoid mistakes of the past.
Last season was a very unique one for LeBron James. For the first time in his career he was the third option on his own team. Both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were more potent scorers. This made it an easier decision for both player and team to part ways in the summer.
LeBron James has an even more ancillary supporting role on the Philadelphia 76ers, but meanwhile the LA Lakers look primed for a strong season.
The Lakers won their opening game to move to 1-0 with a blowout win over the Golden State Warriors, a team LeBron James could have joined. Luka Doncic scored 28 points in the win, and was supported by healthy contributions from Reaves and new big man Walker Kessler.
Last season the Lakers finished with a 53-29 record. This sets a high bar to improve on, but they have a real chance to become the first team to improve after LeBron James left.
Already, it looks certain that this Lakers team will post the highest win total of any post-LeBron team.
After he left the Cleveland Cavaliers (twice) and the Miami Heat, both teams collapsed in on themselves, having previously poured all their resources into helping LeBron James in the short-term.
If there was a post-LeBron James curse, the LA Lakers appear poised to break it, barring a horrendous run of injuries. Here is a look at what happened to the three teams after ‘The King’ left the building.
Cleveland Cavaliers (2010–11 Season)
- Pre-departure record (2009–10): 61–21 (1st in Eastern Conference)
- Post-departure record (2010–11): 19–63 (15th in Eastern Conference)
- Drop: -42 wins
After the bitterness at how ‘The Decision’ played out with LeBron James’ very public departure, the Cleveland Cavaliers sank into obscurity without him. They actually won their opening game and had a 4-3 record to start the season, but they could not maintain their competitiveness.
Their season featured an embarrassing 26-game losing streak between December 2010 and February 2011. The only blessing was that the Cavs’ poor season landed them the number one pick, Kyrie Irving – a future title-winning teammate for LeBron James upon his eventual return.
Miami Heat (2014–15 Season)
- Pre-departure record (2013–14): 54–28 (Reached NBA Finals)
- Post-departure record (2014–15): 37–45 (10th in Eastern Conference)
- Drop: -17 wins
Despite Pat Riley’s best intentions, the Miami Heat missed the playoffs in their first season without LeBron James. They began the season 3-0 and held a 9-7 record, but after Chris Bosh was ruled out with a blood clot, the Heat struggled and finished with a .500 record.
Cleveland Cavaliers (2018–19 Season)
- Pre-departure record (2017–18): 50–32 (Reached NBA Finals)
- Post-departure record (2018–19): 19–63 (14th in Eastern Conference)
- Drop: -31 wins
A chastening NBA Finals in 2018 prompted LeBron James choosing to quit Cleveland for LA, without the bitterness that existed eight years earlier – thanks to his title win in 2016.
That didn’t make the subsequent season any easier. The Cavaliers began the 2018-19 season 0-6 and Ty Lue was fired. Kevin Love missed 60 games with a toe injury, and the team imploded into full rebuild mode. This ended up netting them Darius Garland in the subsequent Draft Lottery.
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