LeBron James Faces a New Kind of Spotlight as Questions Mount Around His Role with the Lakers
For 20 years, LeBron James has been the gravitational force of every team he’s played on - the guy with the ball in his hands when it matters most, the engine of the offense, the closer. But as he nears his 41st birthday and the Lakers continue to search for consistency, the conversation around James is starting to shift. And this week, that shift got a lot louder.
It started with former NBA head coach Sam Mitchell, who didn’t mince words during an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio. Mitchell claimed that James is no longer a first option - not just on a contender, but even on a rebuilding team like the Washington Wizards.
“This is what LeBron doesn’t understand,” Mitchell said. “It hasn’t sunk in.
Whatever team you go to, you’re the third option. You’re not going to a team where you’re the first option anymore.
If you went to the Washington Wizards, you would still not be the number one option.”
That’s a bold statement - especially when you consider James just dropped 36 points on the Clippers less than a week ago and has been shooting over 50 percent from the field over his last three games. The production is still there.
But Mitchell’s point wasn’t about stats. It was about role.
About presence. About what a team needs from its top option in today’s NBA - and whether James, at this stage of his career, still fits that mold.
Then came Christmas Day.
The Lakers’ loss to the Houston Rockets wasn’t just another L in the standings. It was a gut-check.
A nationally televised showcase that instead turned into an exposé - on chemistry, on roster construction, on engagement. And that last part is where Kendrick Perkins took the baton.
Perkins, who’s known James since their AAU days and played alongside him in the NBA, didn’t hold back on ESPN’s First Take the day after Christmas. He zeroed in on James’ body language, calling it “awful” and suggesting the Lakers need to seriously consider moving on.
“When he’s not engaged or he feels some type of way, his body speaks in his body language,” Perkins said. “Last night, his body language was awful.
He was not engaged. He was pouting.
He was moping. He was walking up and down the damn floor.
He was complaining. And I just think we’re at this point.”
That’s a tough critique from someone who’s been in the trenches with James. But it underscores a growing concern: Is LeBron still fully locked in? And if not, what does that mean for a Lakers team that’s already struggling to find its identity?
The loss to the Rockets didn’t just sting - it exposed. The Lakers looked disjointed, even with James, Luka Dončić, and Austin Reaves sharing the court.
The offense lacked rhythm. The defense lacked urgency.
And the energy? It just wasn’t there.
For a team that came into the season with championship aspirations, that’s a problem.
So now, the questions are piling up. Not just about the Lakers’ ceiling, but about James’ place in the league hierarchy.
Is he still a No. 1 option? Can he still carry a team?
Or is it time to recalibrate expectations - not just for what he can do, but for what he should be doing?
None of this is to say LeBron James isn’t still a force. The numbers prove he is.
But in a league that’s always evolving, role matters just as much as production. And as the Lakers try to navigate a season filled with more questions than answers, one of the biggest ones might be about the man who’s defined the last two decades of basketball.