LeBron James Leaves Lakers with a Title. Was That Enough for Eight Years?

LeBron James is done in Los Angeles. After eight seasons, the Lakers confirmed his exit with a social media farewell Tuesday, and the 22-time All-Star had already said his own goodbyes to the team. He’s leaving as a legend, no question. He pulled the franchise out of the mud after some grim years in the mid-2010s and dragged them to a championship in 2020 — inside the bubble, during a pandemic, at a moment when the whole world felt like it was falling apart.

That alone makes his tenure a success, according to pundit Emmanuel Acho. But Acho also thinks there was room for more.

“LeBron James’ tenure with the Lakers was a success beyond the shadow of a doubt, but there was room for more,” Acho said on the Speakeasy podcast.

He’s not wrong. The Lakers never came close to matching that 2020 high. Not even close. And a lot of that falls on decisions made after the title.

What Went Wrong After 2020

2021 is the big what-if. LeBron turned his ankle late in the regular season and wasn’t himself in the playoffs. The Lakers got bounced in the first round by the Phoenix Suns. That loss set off a chain reaction that buried them for years.

That offseason, the Lakers let Alex Caruso walk to the Bulls in free agency. Instead, they gave Talen Horton-Tucker a fat contract. Then came the real disaster: they traded Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — two key guys from the championship run — for Russell Westbrook. Westbrook never fit with LeBron and Anthony Davis. His massive salary handcuffed the Lakers for a season and a half. They’ve been chasing that mistake ever since.

Since 2021, the Lakers haven’t been real contenders. They made the Western Conference finals in 2023, sure, but got swept by Denver. That felt more like a ceiling than a sign of life.

So LeBron leaves L.A. with one ring in eight years. For most players, that’s a career-defining achievement. For LeBron, given the expectations he carries and the mess the Lakers made around him, it lands somewhere between triumph and missed opportunity.

He brought a title to a franchise that was dead in the water. That’s real. But the last few seasons also feel like time he can’t get back.