Lebron James in many peoples’ eyes is the greatest basketball player of all time. Although the King is great, he has some princess like tendencies. Let’s take another legend in another sport, Tom Brady.
Tom Brady has won 6 Super Bowls and in my opinion is the greatest QB to ever play in the NFL. With that being said, Brady doesn’t care who coaches the Patriots not once has tried to hand pick his head coach, offensive coordinator or quarterback coach. LeBron has reportedly gotten coaches fired and has used subliminal messages in the media about his displeasure with his head coaches and their decisions. Brady also doesn’t care about the players he plays with, so much so that he has played a guy who had troubled past in Randy Moss, a guy that has been cut from multiple teams in Cordarrelle Patterson, even non-desirables such as Josh Gordon or undrafted players like Wes Welker. King James is the complete opposite. He tries to hand pick his players and criticizes them in the media subliminally when they under perform.
In an era where dynasties are glorified, what Tom Brady has done is more impressive than what King James has done. Keep in mind, over the history of the NBA, there are 13 players with 6 rings and only 1 NFL player has 6 championships and that is Tom Brady. The NBA is built for dynasties based on the salary cap, how long you can play at a high level and a much lower injury risk as opposed to the NFL.
I could make the argument that LeBron is cancerous to his teammates and his organization. Going into free agency after the Cavs won their championship, James put the Cavs organization in a tough spot. He told them that Thompson should be a “Cav for life” and that “I hate coming into another season, two years in a row, and one of my big guns is not here” when referencing his frustrations about Smith not being resigned. Going into that summer the Cavs did not want to give Smith and Thompson that much money because they were already too deep into the luxury tax, which would put the organization in a bind going forward, trying to go after free agents and there was real reason to extend the 31-year-old Smith’s contract.
Of course, the Cavs had to bow down to his needs to keep the king happy. Well, going into the next season the Cavs had some early issues in the win column. The issues were so dire he went to the media and said, “We haven’t had many play-makers through the course of the season.” Then later on during the Finals, when he was criticized for not picking his teammates up, he said “Me? Me being criticized?… I don’t believe it! I don’t care. I don’t care at all. We’re in the NBA Finals. How much more picking up my teammates do you want to do?” These struggles would have never arrived if he let management do their thing and make its own decisions. We have never seen a player have such a big input on personnel decisions in the history if the sport.
Lastly, Brady doesn’t care about the money. He actually took a pay cut so his team could sign valuable free agents. Let it be known that the top 6 highest paid QBs in the 2018-2019 season did not make the playoffs. As for James, he has said publicly he will not take a pay cut. Since LeBron has joined the L.A. Lakers, he has been working on 10 different projects on the Hollywood slate. I could make the argument that he isn’t totally focused on basketball. We criticized Kevin Durant for some of his off the court issues, but he has come out and said it “I just want to play basketball.” Durant’s priorities seem to be in check.
Many sports fan ask “What is a leader?” It’s hard to describe, but you know one when you see it. Is King James a leader? Maybe, Maybe not. It has been a known fact that the Lakers wanted to trade for Anthony Davis and they went after him hard before trade deadline, offering 4 players and 2 first rounds picks. Even the King got involved in the matter as he said playing with AD would be “amazing.” Also, back in early December, he was asked about Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s performances, James decided to give some interesting answers ironically around the time they were trying to acquire Trevor Ariza. “It’s a business. If you get traded, that doesn’t mean your paycheck stops. It doesn’t matter, you’re still going to be in the NBA, just continue to get better and better. If you get traded, it’s part of the business. It happens. I mean, it sucks, that’s for sure, but it happens. So you just go about it.” He could have easily called KCP a great teammate. Said he was going through some struggles, but we have his back. Instead he created controversy. It is easy for fans and other journalist to say that “you’re a pro. Being traded in your profession is common and should affect you that much.” Well, imagine yourself working in Orlando for 3-4 years, then your boss comes in and says you might be getting transferred to Cincinnati in a week. Those rumors affect players regardless of how long their tenure has been in the league.
Yes, before James got hurt, the Lakers had the 4th best record in the Western Conference. But, since he has come back, he doesn’t seem to be fully invested and best believe the rest of the team can sense that. It starts at the top. If your best player checks in early, so will the rest of the team. For example, the Green Bay Packers this season had high expectations until Aaron Rodgers got hurt and, when he came back, he wasn’t at 100 percent. Then there were multiple reports that came out saying Rodgers and head coach Mike McCarthy had issues. Then A-Rod didn’t buy in and the team sensed that and suffered loss after loss after loss. The Lakers have less than 25 games with the 4th toughest schedule remaining in the NBA. The playoffs for the Lake-Show looks like a distant memory. As of right now they have a higher chance to receive a top 3 pick than they do to go to the playoffs. It’s time we look at LeBron and see how his words and actions have affected this team.
Loading ...