s.Why LeBron James isn't an instant fix for the Lakers and other Tuesday Thoughts
The eyes of the professional sports world were all turned to news that the Los Angeles Lakers had signed the "King" LeBron James to a four-year contract, a deal worth $154 million. L.A. Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke has a column on the front page of this morning's paper in which he questions the wisdom of some of the other signings that took place following the acquisition of James.
Once the verbal deal committing King James to the Lakers was done (contracts cannot be officially inked until Friday), the team signed Lance Stephenson, Rajon Rondo and JaVale McGee to one year contracts. Given their past proclivity for antics that aren't part of delivering victories, Plaschke thinks it makes the process going forward into next season more problematic that it was. He also questions the team for allowing Julius Randle to depart for the New Orleans Pelicans.
There are a few facts that must be faced. One is that in spite of Las Vegas oddsmakers making the Lakers' odds to win the next NBA title 7-2, all roads to the NBA finals go through the Golden State Warriors. Those same oddsmakers have the Warriors as 10-11 favorites to repeat their current title win; 3rd in the last 4 seasons.
Most people missed that those Warriors improved their own team by signing DeMarcus Cousins to a one year deal. He will probably recover from his Achilles tendon injury in time to attend training camp. He is an upgrade in talent to a team already renowned for the best roster in the league.
I see the Lakers definitely returning to the playoffs next season. They might even make it to the Western Conference Finals, given the right seeding. Can they beat the Warriors in a playoff series? Over the course of a playoff series, almost anything is possible. But I doubt it is likely.
So, why did the Lakers sign those three players to one year deals? Why did they let Julius Randle, arguably their most improved player depart? To clear cap space for the next off-season. Jeanie Buss is a very intelligent woman. She's also patient enough to wait another season in which her team gets to the post-season, to make it a much better team for the 2019-2020 season.
The list of potential free-agents that could improve a LeBron James led Lakers squad for the season after next is too long to review in this limited space. A number of players who would be a great fit for the Lakers with James are on that list. Bill Plaschke accurately assesses that the Lakers need to find a player who can shoot from the outside.
Mark my words. The Lakers will do very well in 2018-2019. They will do much better the following season.
* * *
There are three letters that were published in today's paper edition of that same L.A. Times mentioned above. One of them points out that his salary works out to $4,395 per hour on a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week basis.
Another compares his 4 year salary to the annual cost of $490 million to fight California wildfires.
The last one talks about how the appearance of the signing of LeBron James to the Lakers being on the front page of yesterday's paper indicates that there was no other world news of import on that day, and ponders the question of how that much money could pay for a lot of homeless shelters.
These comparisons are meaningless. They ignore the fact that this is a privately-owned business entity making a decision to pay a new employee what they believe he is worth. As I have pointed out before, compensation amounts are based on the perceived value of the labor being performed. LeBron James has already driven up the price of Lakers tickets on StubHub and from ticket vendors. A study commissioned last year estimates that by his coming to Los Angeles, it will have a positive economic impact of nearly $400 million for the city, as well as creating an estimated 3,000 jobs. The study estimates this will generate an additional $29 million in state tax revenue. While the 3,000 new jobs is a one-time thing, the economic impact and tax revenues are annual numbers.
* * *
When I was a working journalist, Brian Ross was one of my heroes. In 1980 he broke the story of the FBI's ABSCAM operation, which is the basis of the brilliant 2013 movie, American Hustle. He had a long list of awards for the stories he uncovered. Now he's left ABC News after he incorrectly claimed Michael Flynn was going to testify that Donald Trump had instructed him to make contact with Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign. He was suspended for four weeks in December of last year. Now he and his producer Rhonda Schwartz have departed the network.
Investigative journalism is hard work. I think it is probably much more difficult today than it was when I was a working journalist. Technology has shortened the news cycle more than I ever imagined possible when it was my chosen profession. This has created a conflict between the desire to break stories and the need to properly fact-check those stories.
I wish Mr. Ross and Ms Schwartz well in their next endeavors.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
How can TMZ do a story about Linda Hunt being involved in a car accident, make mention that she's one of the stars of NCIS: Los Angeles and talk about her video voice work, and ignore the fact she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress?
Why is it people want to boycott Walmart over a third-party vendor selling t-shirts that read "Impeach 45" but they don't seem to care about the same t-shirts being sold by a third-party vendor on Amazon.com?
Donald Trump says everyone who ever bought a Harley-Davidson motorcycle voted for him in the 2016 presidential election. I'd love to see someone create a list of those people who bought a Harley who didn't vote for Trump.
The 12 young Thai soccer players and their coach who are trapped in a cave might be the most accurate instance ever of being between a rock and a hard place. The only egress available from where they are is to dive through narrow tunnels that stretch for a mile. Considering that none of them have any dive training makes it worse. Factor in the fact that apparently none of them can swim, and it is a recipe for disaster.
Add 38 year-old Jennifer Dilan to the long list of "stupid is as stupid does" people. She went to visit her son in jail while there was a felony warrant out for her arrest. Instead of visiting, she wound up behind bars herself.
Once the verbal deal committing King James to the Lakers was done (contracts cannot be officially inked until Friday), the team signed Lance Stephenson, Rajon Rondo and JaVale McGee to one year contracts. Given their past proclivity for antics that aren't part of delivering victories, Plaschke thinks it makes the process going forward into next season more problematic that it was. He also questions the team for allowing Julius Randle to depart for the New Orleans Pelicans.
There are a few facts that must be faced. One is that in spite of Las Vegas oddsmakers making the Lakers' odds to win the next NBA title 7-2, all roads to the NBA finals go through the Golden State Warriors. Those same oddsmakers have the Warriors as 10-11 favorites to repeat their current title win; 3rd in the last 4 seasons.
Most people missed that those Warriors improved their own team by signing DeMarcus Cousins to a one year deal. He will probably recover from his Achilles tendon injury in time to attend training camp. He is an upgrade in talent to a team already renowned for the best roster in the league.
I see the Lakers definitely returning to the playoffs next season. They might even make it to the Western Conference Finals, given the right seeding. Can they beat the Warriors in a playoff series? Over the course of a playoff series, almost anything is possible. But I doubt it is likely.
So, why did the Lakers sign those three players to one year deals? Why did they let Julius Randle, arguably their most improved player depart? To clear cap space for the next off-season. Jeanie Buss is a very intelligent woman. She's also patient enough to wait another season in which her team gets to the post-season, to make it a much better team for the 2019-2020 season.
The list of potential free-agents that could improve a LeBron James led Lakers squad for the season after next is too long to review in this limited space. A number of players who would be a great fit for the Lakers with James are on that list. Bill Plaschke accurately assesses that the Lakers need to find a player who can shoot from the outside.
Mark my words. The Lakers will do very well in 2018-2019. They will do much better the following season.
* * *
There are three letters that were published in today's paper edition of that same L.A. Times mentioned above. One of them points out that his salary works out to $4,395 per hour on a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week basis.
Another compares his 4 year salary to the annual cost of $490 million to fight California wildfires.
The last one talks about how the appearance of the signing of LeBron James to the Lakers being on the front page of yesterday's paper indicates that there was no other world news of import on that day, and ponders the question of how that much money could pay for a lot of homeless shelters.
These comparisons are meaningless. They ignore the fact that this is a privately-owned business entity making a decision to pay a new employee what they believe he is worth. As I have pointed out before, compensation amounts are based on the perceived value of the labor being performed. LeBron James has already driven up the price of Lakers tickets on StubHub and from ticket vendors. A study commissioned last year estimates that by his coming to Los Angeles, it will have a positive economic impact of nearly $400 million for the city, as well as creating an estimated 3,000 jobs. The study estimates this will generate an additional $29 million in state tax revenue. While the 3,000 new jobs is a one-time thing, the economic impact and tax revenues are annual numbers.
* * *
When I was a working journalist, Brian Ross was one of my heroes. In 1980 he broke the story of the FBI's ABSCAM operation, which is the basis of the brilliant 2013 movie, American Hustle. He had a long list of awards for the stories he uncovered. Now he's left ABC News after he incorrectly claimed Michael Flynn was going to testify that Donald Trump had instructed him to make contact with Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign. He was suspended for four weeks in December of last year. Now he and his producer Rhonda Schwartz have departed the network.
Investigative journalism is hard work. I think it is probably much more difficult today than it was when I was a working journalist. Technology has shortened the news cycle more than I ever imagined possible when it was my chosen profession. This has created a conflict between the desire to break stories and the need to properly fact-check those stories.
I wish Mr. Ross and Ms Schwartz well in their next endeavors.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
How can TMZ do a story about Linda Hunt being involved in a car accident, make mention that she's one of the stars of NCIS: Los Angeles and talk about her video voice work, and ignore the fact she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress?
Why is it people want to boycott Walmart over a third-party vendor selling t-shirts that read "Impeach 45" but they don't seem to care about the same t-shirts being sold by a third-party vendor on Amazon.com?
Donald Trump says everyone who ever bought a Harley-Davidson motorcycle voted for him in the 2016 presidential election. I'd love to see someone create a list of those people who bought a Harley who didn't vote for Trump.
The 12 young Thai soccer players and their coach who are trapped in a cave might be the most accurate instance ever of being between a rock and a hard place. The only egress available from where they are is to dive through narrow tunnels that stretch for a mile. Considering that none of them have any dive training makes it worse. Factor in the fact that apparently none of them can swim, and it is a recipe for disaster.
Add 38 year-old Jennifer Dilan to the long list of "stupid is as stupid does" people. She went to visit her son in jail while there was a felony warrant out for her arrest. Instead of visiting, she wound up behind bars herself.
posted by me at 7:37 PM
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