Lakers making LeBron James a sympathetic figure

The Los Angeles Lakers have done the improbable. They have matched the Golden State Warriors. They have turned LeBron James into a sympathetic figure.

Golden State made LeBron an underdog. The rosters these last two years were so stacked that LeBron became America’s rallying cry. Take out the evil empire.

LeBron destroyed that storyline last summer when he signed on with the Lakers and reminded us what an evil empire really looks like. The Warriors, the original Warriors, the pre-Kevin Durant Warriors, were a feel-good story for the ages, and Durant’s weak decision to jump on the bandwagon was a poor reflection on him, not on Golden State.

The Lakers are the true Galactic Empire. The franchise…