LeBron James, Rob Pelinka closed the book on an era of Lakers basketball

LeBron James' departure this offseason ended his eight-year tenure with the Lakers , the longest single stretch with any franchise in his career. As much as both sides may have been ready to move on, they still accomplished a lot during their time together in Los Angeles .

"I thought it would be appropriate, just at the front, to express gratitude for the LeBron era here," Pelinka said on Thursday. "Clearly new team, new players, and that's what we're going to talk about today, but we, just as an organization, are still grateful for the run that we had with him here. The Lakers have become, as they should, a perennial playoff team, won a championship, went to the Western Conference Finals, and it was a great era and we're grateful for it."

After a regular season which started rocky with LeBron on the sideline before he needed time to slot in as a third fiddle behind Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves , the dynamic seemed to change a bit in the playoffs when LeBron showed his value once again.