5 Reasons Why LeBron James & The Lakers Will Make the 2019 Playoffs 

#4 Team Composition

Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram

After taking a motley mix of Gibson, Gooden, Hughes and Brown to the NBA Finals, LeBron has repeatedly shown his ability to integrate and take teams forward quickly. Without LeBron, the Cavs were not even in contention for the playoffs but with LeBron they all of sudden made the finals 4 years in a row.

Known for his intelligence, the rumors of him being the De Facto GM never seem to leave LeBron and while some of the criticism is unwarranted, when the team makes it 2 – 3 games and a couple of injuries away from winning it all, should one really complain?

When Kyrie Irving left for reasons of being his own man, this was the first time one got an idea of the pressure and stress of playing with and under LeBron’s shadow. While the jury is still out for the decision Kyrie made, the situation for LeBron could not have turned better, from ego battles to the hungry awestruck youth of Kuzma, Ball, Hart and Ingram are the perfect students for LeBron to take under his tutelage to mentor and bring back ShowTime to the Staples Center.

#5 Nothing to lose and everything to prove

Irrespective of which camp you are in, for the first time in his career, probably in the last decade, no one is really expecting LeBron to reach the playoffs, Finals or even make a serious run in the business end of the season.

The perennial all-star has been at peak performance level this past season and his PER ratings, while they have always been in the Top 10 over the course of his career, this past regular season and playoffs he has surprised even his fiercest critics and haters. It’s no secret now that this decision was made much earlier and Magic and LeBron have something deeper and meaningful planned for the revival of the Lakers.

With mural defacing and towering shadows of Kareem, Magic, Shaq and Kobe, any success will cement LeBron’s legacy on NBA’s Mt Rushmore. While a failure will not make as much as a dent on his legacy after he achieved the impossible odds in 2016, either way, it’s a tailor-made situation for the king to reclaim his title of the greatest player in the world and taking these young Lakers to a new era of SHOWTIME.