LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers play Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday against the Denver Nuggets. Bron is going for his fifth title and 11th trip to the NBA Finals.
Whether he and the Lakers advance or not, it seems as though Bron will control the narrative, as the filmmaker behind the famous “Last Dance” series has been following Bron and the Lakers all season.
LeBron’s Last Dance?
Lakers radio play-by-play announcer John Ireland revealed the news on the “Awful Announcing” podcast.
“I hope I’m not talking out of school here, Andy Thompson, the guy who shot ‘The Last Dance,’ Mychal Thompson’s younger brother, who has worked for the NBA for 30 years, has spent a ton of time with us this year,” Ireland said on “Awful Announcing.”
“So if LeBron ever wanted to go down this road, I think Andy is stockpiling that just so he has it and has the opportunity to tell the story.
“If we go on a magical run to the title, Andy, who was the driving force behind The Last Dance, most of the stuff you saw in those 10 episodes was shot by Andy Thompson.
“And Andy’s a smart guy, he’s already working on, potentially, a story about the end of LeBron’s run like he had one for the end of Jordan’s run.”
This shouldn’t come as a surprise if you’ve been following Bron’s career. Everything he does on and off the court is calculated. He is always looking a few moves ahead and playing 3D chess.
The “Last Dance” famously chronicled Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls’ sixth and final championship of the era. It was a ratings mega hit and it further enhanced the legacy of Jordan.
LeBron Has Always Been Focused On His Legacy
Bron has said numerous times that Jordan is who he is competing with in terms of legacy. He may never get to six titles and he won’t win any more regular season MVPs, but part of legacy is myth building and controlling the narrative. Nobody has done that better than Jordan, until maybe now with Bron.
Having Thompson collect footage can go a number of different ways. If it is Bron’s magical final title season it will be an immensely popular story that will be a mega hit and further his legacy.
If they don’t win the title but advance to the Finals, a lot of the footage can be used when it’s eventually revealed that Bron played the second half of the season and playoffs on a foot that required surgery. Once again, adding to his legend.
This is also the first playoff run of LeBron’s career that he has placed trust in young teammates like Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Lonnie Walker IV. You can see the the snippets now of the sage old veteran with his arm around the young players in practice, with the cutaway to Bron passing to one of them and they hit a big shot.
Part of legend building is mythologizing. We have to create character arcs and different narratives to sell a story. It’s not enough that all the numbers and records say he’s likely the greatest of all-time we also need to tell it through a powerful story.
Whatever the footage gets used for, whether a story specifically about this season or pieces of it for a different story it will further the legend of LeBron James.
