LeBron James says it’s ‘an honor’ to be able to make his mark on Lakers history books

To say the Los Angeles Lakers have had some great teams over the years would be the understatement of the shot clock era. This season, LeBron James is hoping to add to the team’s rich history in a meaningful way, and he and his teammates are off to a great start at doing just that.

Through the months of October and November, the Lakers went 17-2, tying their best 19-game start in franchise history. During that stretch, they won 10 consecutive games.

After win No. 17 against the Washington Wizards on Friday, James — a self-proclaimed basketball historian — talked about what it means for him to be a small part of Lakers history with the way they’ve started the season.

“It’s an honor,” James told reporters. “You just look at the teams and the players that’s come through this franchise, you automatically start thinking of some of the best Laker teams that you’ve seen — or did not see, that you’ve read about or see clips of. You start thinking about all the players, all the great coaches (in Lakers history).

”The history of this franchise is unmatched. It’s pretty cool to be able to put yourself in a category with some of the greats.”

On talent alone, James is arguably a top-three player to ever wear a Lakers uniform. However, the thing that that separates him and, say, Kobe Bryant is the fact that he’s yet to win a championship in Los Angeles. Bryant won five, including three in his first five years. He also spent 20 years with the team, something James won’t match.

Still, if James and Anthony Davis can win just one title during their time with the Lakers, they’ll cement themselves as two of the greatest players to ever don the purple and gold.

It’s one thing to be one of the greatest players of all time — it’s another to be one of the greatest Lakers of all time. James appears to be enough of a basketball historian to understand the difference, and wants to put himself in the second group as well.

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