Lakers’ LeBron James vows not to miss NBA playoffs again

LeBron James tweeted post-season observations from his couch this spring. He has no interest in doing this again next year – or ever again.

“I CANNOT/WILL NOT miss the postseason for my career anymore,” James tweeted Saturday night. “It doesn’t hurt. Ok, back to watching those games.”

At 37, it’s unclear how long James has before retirement, but he has missed the playoffs twice in four years with the Lakers, although winning a championship in 2020 helps ease the disappointment. The only other time he missed the playoffs in his entire career was during his first two seasons with the Cavaliers, back in 2004 and 2005.

The Lakers should be title contenders this season before things went wrong. Russell Westbrook’s trade did not go as planned, while James and Anthony Davis both missed significant time due to injuries.

The Lakers finished a disappointing 33-49 and fired head coach Frank Vogel, who guided them to a championship in the NBA bubble less than two years ago.

It is the second year in a row that the team has failed to live up to expectations. They finished seventh in the West in 2021, with James and Davis spending much of the season dealing with injuries before losing to the Suns in the first round of the playoffs.

Whether James can keep that vow depends heavily on his own health and Davis’s. Additionally, the Lakers need to get their head coach right and figure out a way for their three superstars to coexist on the court.

In theory, for a team with so much talent, missing out on the extended postseason shouldn’t be a problem. But to see if that’s true in practice, just look at what’s happened this year.