Rich: The Lakers Should 100% Bring LeBron James Back Next Season

The Lakers' season ended at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder. LeBron James is technically headed for free agency. Luka Doncic was in street clothes for the last two weeks. Rich's read on the entire picture comes down to one decision.

Make sure LeBron does not walk.

"The Lakers should 100 percent make sure he doesn't go anywhere," Rich said.

The Game 4 sweep was not a sweep in the way anyone expected. LeBron played 40 minutes at age 41, led the game in rebounds with 12, and had a moment with the ball in his hand late.

"He had a moment, ball in his hand to take the lead late, couldn't bank it in," Rich said. "Then Oklahoma City did its thing by taking a three-point lead because they can play a two-man game with two seven-footers. And Chet Holmgren giving him a three-point lead and then Austin Reaves having a three-pointer to try and tie it. That goes by the wayside."

The viewing experience at Rich's house was its own moment. Coop and Tay were up past their bedtime.

"Every single time LeBron's got it, Coop's like, is this the last time he's going to be a Laker?" Rich said. "Is this the last time he's going to be a basketball player? I'm like, I get it."

LeBron's own answer at the podium did not give the room anything.

"With my future, I don't know, obviously," LeBron said. "This is obviously we're still fresh from losing. I don't know what the future holds for me, obviously. As it stands right now tonight, I got a lot of time. I'll sit back like I think I said it last year after we lost, I think, to Minnesota, to go back and recalibrate with my family and talk with them and spend some time with them."

The quote that mattered, Rich said, was the one about process.

"If I can commit to still being in love with the process of showing up to the arena five and a half hours before a game to start preparing for a game," LeBron said. "Giving everything I got, diving for loose balls. Showing up to practices, you know, 11:00 practice, I'm there at 8:00 preparing my body, preparing my mind, preparing to practice."

Rich pulled the conclusion.

"You can't just roll out of bed," Rich said. "You got to get your body ready in order to actually have your practice, to get ready for a game that you show up five hours before, to make sure that you play like LeBron James."

The on-court evidence Rich brought was from across the floor. Mark Daigneault, the head coach who just swept the Lakers, used his postgame conference to talk about LeBron in the highest possible terms.

"He is a guy that, similar to what I said about the team collectively, it's like if you make a mistake on him, he's going to make you pay for it, and it actually helps you improve," Daigneault said. "He's like developing your team because any crack he's going to find it. The great players in a playoff series do that to you. They sharpen your blade. But the fact that he can do it at this stage of his career, even just the first five minutes of game one was a great model for how you start a series."

SGA echoed it from a different angle.

"He uh, it's amazing what he's doing out there at this age," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Very impressive. It's hard to put into words. He's not very old in the grand scheme of life, before the NBA he's pretty old, and he doesn't seem like it out there. He was the top of the scouting report all series. His size gave us issue at times. I'm not sure we'll see anything like it again."

The case Rich built was that the Lakers cannot afford to send all of that out the door.

"You don't let somebody like LeBron James walk out the door, and you team him up with Luka Doncic," Rich said.

The free-agent decisions stacking up around LeBron complicate the math.

"Free agents include Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, who's been terrific," Rich said.

The Rui benching in Game 4 still bothered Rich.

"He was four of eight from three," Rich said. "He was your best three-point shooter on the night."

The Max Kleber on-the-floor moment got the perfect explanation.

"The only way that you put Maxi Kleber out on the floor is if you're trolling Nico Harrison saying we have him, too," Rich said.

The LeBron-leaves-LA scenarios got smaller and smaller the more Rich worked them.

"Cleveland, you know, where you finish where you started, you're back home again, you bring another championship to the land, and you go off into the sunset," Rich said. "That's a hell of a strong case."

The other teams got the same screen.

"The Heat. I don't know if they're close. Atlanta. Boston, he's not walking through the door in Boston. No. Detroit. Would he go to Detroit?" Rich said.

The Dallas reunion comp came up.

"Dallas is interesting," Rich said. "It's a Kyrie reunion. But he wanted to play with Luka. Now he's with Luka. Cooper Flagg is the coach. Jason Kidd, the coach. I don't know."

The summary Rich landed on was the same place every analyst keeps landing.

"There's a lot of moving parts here, but the parts began to move last night," Rich said. "I think he stays, but what do I know? I have no earthly idea. I just think he stays. I just think the Lakers would be nuts to let him walk out the door."

The closing pitch was about what the franchise still has.

"Trust the process that you can figure out how to keep Austin Reaves and build a team around him with JJ Reick," Rich said. "Unless he hates all these people here, and I have no idea, and we just don't know because he's as pro as a pro as they get."

The proof point Rich kept coming back to was March.

"March was lit here for the Lakers," Rich said. "They went 17-2 in March. They were spectacular. I was sitting here saying this team, the way they were playing, could win a championship. And you almost didn't push back. Then a hamstring gave way."