雅虎香港財經 LeBron James is being asked to do too much for the Lakers: NBA hall of famer Gary Payton
NBA hall of fame point guard Gary "The Glove" Payton said it's likely that big changes are coming to the underachieving LA Lakers.
"You have got LeBron probably having the best season I have ever seen at the age of 37. That's just amazing. And it's putting too much on him," the former one-time LA Laker point guard said on the latest episode of Yahoo Finance Presents.
To say the Lakers underachieved this season would be an understatement.
The team — replete with big-name stars such as James, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and Anthony Davis — was eliminated from the playoffs earlier this month. It marked the second time in James' four years with the Lakers that the team has missed the playoffs. The team finished the regular season with a lowly 32-49 record.
Critics pointed to the lack of cohesive play on the court — notably by Westbrook — as the main reason for the Lakers letdown season.
For his part, LeBron averaged an impressive 30.3 points per game despite battling through injuries.
"They should be held accountable. And I think Jeanie Buss [Lakers owner] knows she's going to make changes. I know her very well, love her to death. I know she's going to make changes, because I know she knows that her father is in his grave turning over right now and and going crazy. And she's got to make changes," explained Payton.
Payton thinks it's important to rebuild the Lakers with younger players around James so he can play until he is 40, as he has pointed to doing.
"Let's think about how we're going to keep LeBron James for two or three more years. He wants to play until he's about 40," Payton said.
As for what Payton is up to these days besides keeping it real on the Lakers woes, he is eyeing entering the NFT marketplace. He has also linked up with alcohol brand Hennessy for its Unfinished Business initiative. The initiative aims to distribute more than $5 million in funding to help small businesses to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Said Payton on the rebuilding initiative, "We're going to get these people back on their feet, and we'll get these boards off buildings. We're going to get these businesses back on their feet."
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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