 The Lakers are a far worse team without LeBron James. Right. But at what point does Rob Palenka, the GM, and Jeannie Buss, the owner, at what point do they stop being held hostage by LeBron James and move on? They're not. And look, two years ago, this past season, they got knocked out in the first round by the Denver Nuggets. The year before that, they got all the way to the Western Conference Finals. Kind of a mirage.