When LeBron James steps onto the court for the Los Angeles Lakers later this year in the 2018-19 season, he will be a part of a young but promising team for the future.
The Lakers complemented James' arrival on the team though by signing several veterans to one-year deals, allowing the team to adopt a win-now mentality despite their young core.
The vets and the young core will have to learn how to play together under LeBron's leadership in order for the team to be successful, and sacrifices for the team will have to be made by some players.
However, it appears as though the King already has a speech prepared for that situation.
Speaking to his son's basketball team, the North Coast Blue Chips, before a summer game, James told the kids about the importance of sacrifice for the team by delivering a powerful speech on the topic.
Accept your role
He told the kids about how some of the greatest players in NBA history know that there can be a time where they're required to sit on the bench in order to play a role for a team.
He said: "Hall of Famers and some of the best players to ever play the game came off the bench – or didn’t play. That don’t mean you ain’t good. There’s guys in the NBA that don’t play. Does that mean they’re not good? They got to the NBA because they were sorry? They’re just playing a role.
James went on to explain that if players don't like the role which a team has asked them to play, they should go and play an individual sport instead.
"If you don’t want a role, play tennis or play golf. Because then you can do what the f— you want to do, and then you’ve got nobody else to blame because it’s only an individual sport. If that’s what you want to do, play tennis or play golf.
"But if you want to play a team sport, there’s going to be things that you’ve got to give up to get what you want."
If the Lakers stars are able to lockdown and agree to their roles for the team next season, they could definitely go far in the Western Conference next season.
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