Los Angeles Lakers: Expect a big comeback from LeBron James next season

While the Los Angeles Lakers may have to chalk up the 2018-19 NBA campaign as an utter failure, LeBron James is set up for a major comeback next season

Stephen A. Smith is never one to shy away from giving his opinion on topics. Especially when it comes to the topic of one LeBron James

Recently, SAS mentioned on ESPN’s First Take he believed that LeBron could be the NBA’s MVP next season.

"“I had LeBron James winning league MVP this year…and if he had not got hurt, he would have been top 3 in the conversation. I expect Lebron James so long as he is healthy…I feel even more confident next season he will be that dude. We have to take into account the dude we are talking about here.”"

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Other basketball talking heads seem to agree. One way or another, LeBron is going to have a big comeback next season. And should he pull of winning the MVP next year, he would be one of the oldest players in history to win the award. Michael Jordan was able to win NBA MVP at age 35.

So, this begs the question. Can LeBron James play well enough next season to win MVP? The answer? Absolutely.

LeBron James could have won MVP this season or even last season. Winning the MVP For LeBron the past two seasons has been less about his performance and more about the turmoil surrounding him.

During the 2017-18 season, with Kyrie Irving being traded at the beginning of the season, the Cleveland Cavaliers had virtually a new team to start the season. It took time for the new Cavalier squad to get used to playing well with each other. And again after the All-Star break, the Cavaliers basically had a new roster full of young and inexperienced players with no playoff experience to finish the season.

To complicated matters, during the playoffs, Kevin Love was out for most games and the Cavaliers had new starting lineups almost every game. This turmoil definitely complicated the Cavaliers success on the court. And ultimately impacted LeBron winning the MVP award.

This season, Rajon Rondo suffered an injury subsequently after LeBron did and the Los Angeles Lakers slipped out of playoff contention with the two out of lineup. Before Lebron got hurt, the Lakers were 4th in the Western Conference and just 2.5 games back of the top seed in the Western Conference.

And just when it seemed like LeBron was ready to return and help push the Lakers back into the playoff picture, Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram sustained season-ending injuries. The Lakers were snake-bitten from the get-go and that’s not entirely on LeBron.

LeBron James is still playing well enough to be in contention to be MVP and the best player in the NBA.

For the “down” season, LeBron James averaged 27.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game. By all statistically measures, LeBron James is performing sensational well. In comparison, Jordan at LeBron’s age averaged 28.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

LeBron is averaging more assists and rebounds than Jordan did at his age. And he is offensively more efficient than Jordan and has a higher field goal and 3-point shooting percentage.

By all measures, LeBron is playing better than Jordan did at 34, a year before he won the MVP award.

Arguably no 34 or 35-year-old in the NBA has ever performed as well as LeBron did this season. Ever.

Whether or not LeBron James wins MVP next season will depend more on the Los Angeles Lakers than his individual play. Can the young Lakers core stay healthy and get past the Anthony Davis trade debacle? Can the Laker front office get it together? This remains to be seen.