At 38 years old, it feels like the 2023 Playoffs may be Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James’ best shot at adding a fifth ring to his resume.
James led the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals after a dominant Game 6 performance against the Golden State Warriors. In a repeat of the bubble in 2020, the Lakers now face off against the Denver Nuggets for a chance to make a Finals appearance.
It’s an unprecedented run for James and Los Angeles as they started the 2022-23 season 2-10. No fans could’ve imagined that over six months later they’d be just eight wins away from the franchise’s 18th NBA Championship.
James’ career has been full of ups and downs, but this latest stretch is worth celebrating and to that effect, Lakers radio voice John Ireland revealed in an appearance on the Awful Running Podcast that footage of the King is being captured for a potential future project:
“I hope I’m not talking out of school here, Andy Thompson, the guy who shot The Last Dance, Mychal Thompson’s younger brother, who has worked for the NBA for 30 years, has spent a ton of time with us this year. So if LeBron ever wanted to go down this road, I think Andy is stockpiling that just so he has it and has the opportunity to tell the story,” Ireland said on the Awful Announcing Podcast.
“If we go on a magical run to the title, Andy, who was the driving force behind The Last Dance, most of the stuff you saw in those 10 episodes was shot by Andy Thompson. And Andy’s a smart guy, he’s already working on, potentially, a story about the end of LeBron’s run like he had one for the end of Jordan’s run.”
‘The Last Dance’ on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls aired during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and helped keep basketball fans sane, including James who acknowledged the series motivated him to get back on the court. A film or docuseries outlining James’ most recent run to a title would be quite the hit, especially if the purple and gold are able to win it all.
LeBron James reflects on how successful trade deadline moves have been for Lakers
There’s no way the Lakers are in the position they are now without the deals they made at the trade deadline. James reflected on the moves the front office managed to pull off, specifically highlighting the shooting and depth that D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura and Malik Beasley have brought to the team.
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