LeBron James had a chance to will his Lakers to a win during the waning moments of Monday night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
After getting a switch onto Alex Caruso with 23 seconds left, James got an angle that he had gotten many times before. And many a time before, he had risen or floated an extra second for one of his iconic finishes.
Sadly for LA fans, that was the LeBron of yore -- from a bygone era that was dominated by him and his counterparts, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.
On Monday, James lacked the burst, both horizontally and vertically, to extend the second-round bout one extra game. The Thunder advanced to their second-straight Western Conference Finals bout by way of a narrow 115-110 win out in Los Angeles.
Not only was it history for OKC against the Lakers, but it was also a sign of where the league is heading. A line in the sand demarcating where one era ends, both figuratively and possibly literally in James’ case, and a new one is set to begin.
Thunder may have ended one of most influential eras of NBA history
For the last 10 to 15 years, LeBron, Steph, and KD have been the names scrolling across the bottom of our TVs, filling up our social media feed, and fueling our G.O.A.T debates.
Naturally, it makes sense that the NBA would want to hold on to this era of players for as long as possible because that’s how most of the younger generation of hoops fans first came in contact with the league.
But with Curry’s Warriors missing out on the playoffs for the fourth time in the last seven years, Durant’s teams (plural) not advancing past the second round since 2019, and James’ Lakers now being swept, the new “new” faces of the much younger league need more representation.
Die-hard fans know what players of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ilk bring to the table, but casual fans represent the majority of the NBA fan base. And when the majority says that the Finals are "boring" to watch because of the lack of star power, the NBA has a marketing issue.
While the Thunder have cruised to the Western Conference Finals for a second straight season, Minnesota and San Antonio are in the midst of a battle shaping up to be seven games long.
The headline performers of that group? Maybe you’ve heard of Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama. Do you know how many games those two superstars had on national television?
50.
How many did LeBron, Curry, and Durant have?
96.
With the Thunder sweeping the Lakers, without breaking a sweat for the most part, perhaps the NBA will be forced to face the fact that there is a new era of NBA stardom. A younger, hip to the culture group of players that can tap into the next market of NBA fans.
Rather than waiting for those stars and teams to win multiple championships, perhaps Adam Silver and co. can get ahead of the curve. The Thunder and the rest of the league already have.
NBA HQ can either catch up or keep grasping for a moment, and fans who are simply now getting lost in time. A time when LeBron could still fly.
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