Ray Allen Says LeBron James ‘Has To Reinvent Himself’ With Lakers

Many have questioned LeBron James’ move to the Los Angeles Lakers after the superstar signed a four-year free agent deal with them in July.

The roster appears nowhere near ready to compete for a championship in the rugged Western Conference and the Lakers might even struggle to make the playoffs, considering James is surrounded by a lot of young players and guys who don’t really fit well next to him.

After James signed with the Lakers, LA added Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee and Michael Beasley. Rondo and Stephenson aren’t good jump shooters, a trait players often need when playing next to James because he’s a great passer and collapses the paint on his drives to the basket. It’s fair to say there won’t be much floor spacing for the Lakers when Rondo, Stephenson and James are playing together.

Ray Allen, who played with James on the Miami Heat, says the four-time MVP will have to “reinvent himself” with the Lakers.

“LeBron has to reinvent himself,” Allen said on The Dan Patrick Show. “When I played with him, he had a lot around him that could do different things, so he didn’t always have to carry the weight. Cleveland, it was a little different. He needed more shooters around him. He doesn’t have that many shooters around him (in LA) so how are they going to fit in? Stephenson and Rondo both need the ball in their hands. So is he going to give up more of that responsibility and is he going to become somewhat of a spot-up shooter at the same time? Or are those guys going to become shot-up shooters? It’s going to be interesting to watch.”

Allen and LeBron James were teammates for two seasons in Miami. They won a championship together in 2013 over the San Antonio Spurs. Allen hit one of the biggest shots in NBA history in Game 6 of that series. After a miss by James from deep, Chris Bosh secured the offensive rebound and kicked it out to Allen, who drilled a 3-pointer to tie the score at 95 with 5.2 seconds left in regulation. The game went into overtime, with the Heat winning, and Miami won Game 7 as well to clinch the title.

Allen was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this past weekend. The sharpshooter has made the most 3-pointers in NBA history — 2,973 — and holds career averages of 18.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 1,300 games with the Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics, Boston Celtics and Heat.

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