Los Angeles Lakers: The off-court impact of LeBron James

Everyone knows that LeBron James is going to have a huge impact on the court for the Los Angeles Lakers, with some huge implications off the court as well.

The past few years, the Los Angeles Lakers have been known more for the losses and soap opera headlines that have plagued them from the top to the bottom.

If it wasn’t tanking to keep lottery draft picks, a fractured locker room over recorded conversations, or a sibling rivalry. Something was always bringing the Lakers public attention for all the wrong reasons.

In short order, all that has changed, simply the signing of LeBron James has put the Los Angeles Lakers back on the NBA map.

Now some might say it doesn’t matter until the Lakers win games but the reality is a team that has missed 5 straight playoffs so removed from their last championship is the talk of the NBA, regardless if a ball has bounced yet.

Last week LeBron made his first appearance at the Lakers practice facility in El Segundo for his off-season workouts. It was all the NBA internet media could talk about.

The Lakers full schedule was put out last week and to no one’s surprise, they are going to have a heavy presence on the T.V. screen.

The Lakers will be the most broadcast NBA team with 43 games on national television across the NBA’s many television broadcast partners. That’s three more than the defending back-to-back NBA champion Golden State Warriors, and four more than other contending NBA teams the Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, and Philadelphia 76ers.

The team will be highlighted having their road opener on opening night and home opener televised, and they will be the showcase game on Christmas Day as they face the Warriors.

The Lakers even found themselves thrust into national politics as President Donald Trump tweeted criticism about LeBron’s comments on a CNN interview.

This isn’t the forum for political discourse but there can be no doubt that LeBron James is the most visible athlete who has waded into the political arena.

By that virtue, the Los Angeles Lakers now find themselves involved as they had to produce a statement disregarding the President’s comments. With the LeBron as the visible face of the Lakers, the team will find themselves more often than not for his public comments.

With LeBron now on the Lakers, gone are the days of the laughingstock Lakers. The most entertaining team is back, now all that’s left is to play the games.