After the Los Angeles Lakers signed LeBron James this summer, expectations rose for a franchise that hasn’t been to the postseason in five years. But all along Paul Pierce has been singing the same tune.

So while many who assumed LA would be a playoff lock despite a very young, inexperienced core are panicking, The Truth continues to preach patience with the new look Lakers.

Through the first eight games of the season, the LA offense has been scoring as expected, so the team’s 4-6 record comes in large part due to defensive inefficiency. The Lakers have allowed 48 percent shooting to opposing teams (25th in NBA) through eight games. In the paint, the defense has been allowing the second-most points in the league.

The Lakers will almost certainly improve throughout the season, but it may take longer than many initially expected, and as The Truth continued to preach this week on NBA Countdown, that’s just fine.

“We have to be realistic, I know they got LeBron James, but what kind of expectations do we have for the Lakers,” Pierce asked. “Yeah, expectations come with LeBron James, but we all know that this Laker team is young, and we know that we have to be patient with them.