Are there any meaningful games left for LeBron James?

EL SEGUNDO – LeBron James, speaking at the Lakers’ preseason media day on Monday, enthused when asked about the possibility of playing games that really matter in Paris this summer with “USA” on his jersey.

“It felt great to play meaningful basketball, to literally play at the highest level,” he said of the Olympic campaign that ended with his third gold medal. “You know, we had about two games in a row in Game 7, one against Serbia and then the last one against France, where it was like, ‘Oh, (expletive), that’s why those text messages went out (to teammates).’ That’s why these calls came about.’ You know, the fire and the longing came back to me and I thought, ‘Okay, that’s what it was about.’ So we all got together and called ourselves The Avengers.”

“Every possession means something. If you make a mistake, it will burn you. It was nice to experience that again…to play against these two great teams.”

Which raises a question. Will LeBron ever have the chance to experience moments like this again in a Lakers jersey?

In Paris, he was the MVP of the tournament while also freeing himself from the burden of having to play big minutes every night and play every position on the floor at times. He averaged about 24½ minutes per game – and didn’t have to play more than 30 in 40-minute games until the aforementioned games against Serbia and France – and averaged 14.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 10.2 Assists.

(Incidentally, his 51 assists for the Olympic tournament were third all-time for a U.S. player behind Leon Wood – St. Monica High’s and Cal State Fullerton’s own and now NBA referee – with 63 at the 1984 LA Games and Phil Ford North Carolina with 54 in 1976 in Montreal.)

But now James returns to a team whose biggest early-season storylines are how JJ Redick establishes himself as a first-year head coach and whether Bronny James will begin the season as his father’s teammate or with the G-League’s South Bay Lakers .

Let’s face it: LeBron spent the summer with Olympians, other NBA stars. Now he’s back in purple and gold, and once you get past fellow Olympian Anthony Davis and maybe Austin Reaves, these Lakers are a premier squad until they prove otherwise.

Since LeBron joined the Lakers in July 2018, the burden has been primarily on him when he’s healthy enough to wear the uniform — 35.2 minutes per game in his six seasons in LA, including 35.5 and 35 .3 in the last two seasons, even with the team’s initiative to reduce his minutes to keep him fresh. When James played 71 games last season, it was his highest workload in four seasons due to injuries.

How many of these meaningful games did he play in as a Laker? There was the franchise’s 17th NBA championship run in the Orlando bubble in 2020, a season that included a four-and-a-half-month break due to COVID-19 (which might have allowed James and Anthony Davis to play before regular season resumed to breathe again during the season). July 30). And there was a rush to the conference finals in 2023 after the Lakers struggled out of a 2-10 start only to fall in four games to eventual champion Denver.

Otherwise, the Lakers missed the playoffs in 2019 and 2022 and were eliminated in the first round in 2021 and last spring. And in years 21, 23 and 24 they had to win play-in games to reach the first round. A few years ago, Vice President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka talked about credit for delivering a championship-caliber roster to LeBron. Judge for yourself.

But perhaps this season will prove to be the greatest basketball story ever told, with LeBron – who, we remind you, turns 40 on December 30 – and Davis and the rest stun their opponents and pundits alike and the Lakers win banner No. 18 and make geniuses out of Redick and Pelinka, among others.

I know. I’m not convinced either, not yet.

According to James, he came out of this Olympic summer feeling good, “really good,” physically and mentally “really sharp, very fresh.” And at least at this point there will be no reflection or nostalgia for all the tasks that have become so routine over 21 seasons of professional basketball. Any thoughts about his future? Forget it.

“Kind of just live in the moment,” he said. “Especially with Bronny here too, I don’t want to take this moment for granted. I’ve always kind of never given myself the opportunity to just, you know, I guess, you know, enjoy the moments. But this is the moment that I can, you know, enjoy a little bit more than just being my real self.”

But yes, there will probably be some inconvenience. If you are or have been a parent of a teenager or young adult, you know how this works.