LeBron James is the most experienced member of the Lakers’ roster. He is also the leader of the squad. Furthermore, James is playing in his 20th NBA season and clearly has been to the NBA finals several times. The man from Akron has won four championships, along with four MVPs and four MVP Finals. Hence, the 38-year-old superstar has immense and valuable experience of twenty years.
Apparently, the Lakers’ ace knows exactly how to prepare for the postseason games. He knows the impact of media and especially social media, on the players. Social media can have adverse effects on the players’ minds. The inexperienced teammates of King James in the Lakers at present might not be aware of that so much. Any NBA game is a lot of pressure for any young player. But a playoff game is totally a different ball game. And looks like James is trying to shield his team from such toxicity.
LeBron James Asks His Young Teammates To Avoid Any Distraction
The young guns of the Lakers, like Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, and Rui Hachimura, have never reached the second round of the playoffs. Reaves is only playing in his second NBA season. But he has done exceedingly well. At the same time, Russell has never reached the Round 2 of any playoffs before. Neither did Rui Hachimura with the Wizards in the previous seasons. Hence, it is a pretty new affair for all these talented young members of the squad. The Lakers need them to maintain consistency. LeBron James wants his young teammates to avoid any sort of distractions until the playoffs get over. The Lakers were impressive in Game 3 as they blew the Warriors away, winning 127-97.
LeBron said his main advice for the Lakers’ younger players who haven’t experienced a deep playoff run is to “stay off social media” pic.twitter.com/qb8ON2pApI
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) May 7, 2023
In the post-game interview, LeBron James was asked if he had any advice for his young inexperienced teammates. To this, the King replied, “Yes, I would ask them not to go into social media until the season ends.” James knows that reading negative comments on social media can have adverse mental effects. That is something the players and the team do not need now. The players must focus on training and let themselves get complacent. LeBron warns his teammates that the Warriors are a very dangerous side. Hence, they are the defending champions. Now, the Lakers need to win two more games in the series to seal the deal. They have done a miraculous job to get here. Hence, the Lakers don’t need any distractions now.
Lakers Cannot Let Social Media Ruin Their Campaign
The Lakers are very close to winning their 18th championship and becoming the most successful team in NBA. The way the season started was very disappointing for the Lakers fans. They were 2-10 after the first twelve games. The Lakers’ roster visibly had no balance back in early February. Until the February trades changed the dynamic of the roster.
Finally, the Los Angeles Lakers managed to make the postseason. From the play-in game and now to the second round of the playoffs. Furthermore, it has been an incredible turnaround for the Lakers. Now they cannot let any social media distractions jeopardize their whole season.