Seeing Lebron watching the Finals court side it struck me that maybe Lebron was doing some scouting, like for a place to land to get titles #5 and #6 to tie Michael Jordan's 6 titles. It's pretty obvious that Lebron sees himself as the best basketball player ever, a title he will never hold if he can't at least get one, if not two more titles. MJ going 6 for 6 in the Finals would be hard to overcome in a best player ever discussion, but getting 6 titles while also going to 6 other Finals might just do it.
So how does an aging and slowing down Lebron get those last two titles? Well, maybe he's decided Anthony Davis won't hold up or can take over the reins of the team while Lebron declines. Maybe he decides the best way to more titles is getting out of LA and pairing up with a #1/Batman type guy, so he can, for the first time in his career, move into a #2/ Robin guy role.
And who would have a great #1/Batman type player that Lebron could ride the coattails of to another couple of championships?
Giannis Antetokounmpo seems like a good place to start. If Giannis can lead that Milwaukee team to a title with Middleton and Holiday as his support, how much easier would it be if Lebron was Giannis' Robin? Yeah, there are the Milwaukee winters problem, but Lebron grew up in Akron and played a decade in Cleveland, he has dealt with winters in small crappy Midwestern cities most of his life, what's two more years in Wisconsin? Nothing to him, I am sure.
There is other teams he might entertain. Golden State with Steph and whoever else is around after the trade. That might work, even if it gets Steph to 5 titles.
Could Dallas work? Playing with Doncic would seem enticing to Lebron. That pairing with some quality surrounding parts would be scary. And Dallas I think would be all in for Lebron as there is already word they are attempting to clear the books for Kawhi. Lebron would be the better get.
I don't know. The Lakers took a noticeable step back this year. Yeah, injuries, Covid, short turnaround, condensed season. Where have we heard that before(oh that's right, it was me talking about the Celtics)? Davis was hurt. He has been hurt a lot in his career. Can Lebron count on him to become THE guy and be healthy enough to do it for two more runs? Is the financial structure of the team such that management won't be able to make the team better and back to title winning form?
So maybe such a move is possible. And maybe that's what was going through Lebron's mind as he sat court side watching the Finals instead of playing in them. Lebron wants those two titles and you know it was killing him wasting a year not vying for the title, knowing he doesn't have too many title runs left in him.
He probably won't. But there is always a chance.