LeBron James accomplished what he set out to do when he joined the Lakers, but there is still one part of his time in Los Angeles that bothers him.
James helped deliver the Lakers their 17th NBA championship in 2020, defeating the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals inside the Orlando bubble.
But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Los Angeles never got the traditional championship parade that normally comes with winning a title.
Years later, LeBron admits that still doesn’t sit right with him.
“I still think about like not being able to do the parade. That bothers me,” James said on his Mind the Game podcast.
When asked to rate how much it still bothers him on a scale of one to 10, James didn’t hesitate.
“20… It would have been super duper dope, man,” James said.
James left Los Angeles for the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason, bringing an end to his eight-year run with the Lakers. Despite the way it ended, he still spoke highly of what representing the franchise meant to him.
“When I came to the Lakers, [a lot of people said] I was just coming to be in Hollywood and do movies,” James said on Mind the Game. “But I’ve always loved a huge challenge, and to come to a historical franchise that has some of the greatest basketball players that we’ve ever seen in the history of sports. To be a part of that one was like a super duper big thing to me. It was super cool and humbling at the same time.”
Winning a championship was always the expectation in Los Angeles, and James believes delivering one will remain one of the defining moments of his Lakers career.
“The expectations around here in Los Angeles when it comes to the Lakers is like, ‘Let’s win championships.’ And I heard that, and I understood that. And for us to be able to win one, that was something I would never forget,” James said. “[To win] with that group, with that team, for this city.”
James may have moved on to Philadelphia, but missing out on celebrating that 2020 championship properly is something he clearly hasn’t forgotten.
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