Celtics' legend claims Lakers must move on from LeBron James to re-enter title contention

The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a shocking first-round exit from the postseason on Wednesday as they suffered a 103-96 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5. While they were predicted to make a deep postseason run following the acquisition of Luka Doncic, things did not materialize that way.

There will be plenty of eyes on the franchise this summer as they look to retool around the 26-year-old superstar. The first order of business, however, will be LeBron James deciding what he will do with his pending player option.

His former Eastern Conference rival claimed that the franchise needs to move on from the four-time NBA MVP to re-enter title contention, stating:

"This is what needs to happen if the Lakers want to get back to (being) a championship contender moving forward," Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Paul Pierce stated on Thursday. "You have to get out of the constraints of the LeBron era. They have to find a way to just - he's had a grasp of the whole organization, bear-hugging them for so long now. He's done some wonderful things for the Lakers organization... They have to say, 'Bron, we appreciate your services, I think we should move on'. It's time for the Luka era now because I don't know if you can play them together moving forward because you have to have a certain type of team around Luka to win. And him with LeBron, you won't be able to create that."

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While James continued to play at a high level in his 22nd season, the Lakers fell well short of expectations. Despite their early postseason exit, it is unlikely that the franchise looks to move on from the NBA's all-time leading scorer. Instead, the more likely route is that they will look to retool the roster around Doncic's strengths.

James appears to be in position to earn his 21st All-NBA selection after another strong regular season. He averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.6 blocks per game while shooting 51.3% from the field, 37.6% from three-point range and 78.2% from the free-throw line.

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