LeBron James Explains Major Dilemma Facing Him During Lakers Games

LeBron James has admitted he is facing a dilemma with the Los Angeles Lakers 21 games into the new season about when to take over games and when to allow the other players to do their bit.

The small forward joined the second most successful franchise in NBA history on a four-year deal this summer and is looked upon as the hope to end their five-year playoff drought. James has not disappointed as he has led from the front as the Lakers shook off a shaky start to put together a string of wins to lift them to seventh on the Western Conference table.

The Lakers lost their opening three games but have won 12 of their last 18 games to get their season back on track and ease the pressure on head coach Luke Walton. But they have been heavily reliant on James to shoulder most of the scoring burden with the likes of Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball yet to make their presence felt consistently.

Again, during their win over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night, James scored 38 points in as many minutes along with 9 rebounds and 7 assists to help record their first win in three games. The game became too close for comfort in the fourth quarter with just four points between the two teams and just over seven minutes remaining.

It was the former Cleveland Cavaliers player, who stepped up and scored 12 points to take their lead into double figures and close it out. James’ dilemma circles around the problem of how he can involve the other players rather than just taking over and dragging them over the line.

“That's the challenge of things I've been kind of battling with since the season started," James said after the win over the Pacers, as quoted on ESPN. "How much do I defer and allow some of our young guys to kind of try to figure it out, and how much do I try to take over games? I think tonight was one of those instances where they looked at me and they wanted me to close the game."

James is no stranger to almost singlehandedly taking the team over the line as he did that numerous times with the Cavaliers, especially last season when he dragged them to the finals almost all on his own. And it seems it is happening again despite Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson suggesting that they do not want that to happen.

"We are trying to make sure that we watch his minutes but also that we don't run everything through him because now it is Cleveland all over again and we don't want that," Johnson said. "We want to get up and down."

But their plan is not working at the moment, as according to ESPN, James was leading both the Lakers point guards in assists and time on the ball. He has 6.7 assists and 79.3 touches per game, while guards Rajon Rondo and Ball have 6.5 assists, 60.8 touches and 4.5 assists and 53.5 touches respectively.