Which team would refuse to start LeBron James? However, the Los Angeles Lakers have performed admirably without the King, raising concerns about whether his return could ruin things.

It may seem like a strange assertion. It’s all about chemistry; having the best player in the world for the past 20 years doesn’t actually make any team worse. And in a recent NBA on ESPN program, reputable NBA advisor Brian Windhorst expressed alarm about that.

Brian Windhorst opens up on importance of LeBron James for the Lakers

Despite early-season injury setbacks—James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves were all out at one point—Windhorst commended the Lakers for looking excellent. Brian said:

“They are a bottom 10 defensive team in the league, they are a bottom 10 net-rating team, like their numbers indicate they should be a losing team,” . “They have done really well mitigating their challenges, basically because Luka and Austin have been so great.” 

“But… they need LeBron,” Windhorst insisted. “I understand that working him in is probably gonna mess with their flow a little bit, but let’s just have a real talk here…” 

“I wanna see what LeBron’s demeanor is,” . “Frankly, LeBron’s demeanor kind of varies sometimes. Sometimes he’s just super engaged and happy and bouncy, and sometimes he’s brooding, and the Lakers have a pretty good chemistry going.

“Let’s acknowledge, LeBron’s never done this before. First off, he had a knee injury at the start of the summer, so he was totally off his game already… so he missed that stretch, and then he has sciatica, and he has to go through that.

“So, even if he was 10 years younger, he would be doing something he had never done before, which was joining a team mid-stream,”

James’s return appears to be imminent. And for that reason, his role with the Lakers is the subject of a lot of discussion. Even at forty, James is a draw and a threat to the opposition, even though Doncic is the new face of the team.