Dr. J Only Saying What Legends Think About LeBron (and KD) -The iPINIONS Journal

I knew LeBron James’s decision to “take my talents to Miami” would haunt his legacy. And I’m not just saying that today. Because here is how I expressed disappointment and cast judgement, in real time, in “LeBron Abandons Cleveland for Miami,” July 13, 2010.

________

It’s important to bear in mind that LeBron’s all-consuming ambition to win a championship is the same ambition that motivated (and still motivates) all great NBA players: winning everything really is everything to them.

And he will surely win in Miami. For the triumvirate of James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade has the same potential to dominate during the playoffs as other championship triumvirates like Magic, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Michael, Bill Cartwright, and Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls.

The only question for LeBron is: What price victory?

After all, finally winning on a team in a city where they suffered years of playoff frustration is what made winning a championship so sweet for superstars like Dr. J and Michael. Not to mention the unbridled pride and joy they brought to long-suffering fans in cities that, in the case of Dr. J’s Philadelphia, had not won an NBA championship in almost two decades, and in the case of Michael’s Chicago, had never won at all.

By contrast, I fear winning for LeBron will be bitter sweet. Not least because, instead of being hailed as a basketball savior in Miami, where the Heat won a championship just years ago (in 2006), he’ll be regarded as nothing more than a hired gun – who they brought in for a few championships more.

Even worse, though, no matter how many championships he wins in Miami, LeBron will be forever haunted by the fact that he abandoned not just his team but his childhood home to do so.

_________

Again, the seminal point is that the Miami Heat was already a championship team. Therefore, it was hardly surprising when LeBron helped it win repeat championships in 2012 and 2013.

But he learned soon enough that even the sweet taste of repeat NBA championships could not erase that bitter taste of abandonment. Only this explains him returning home to Cleveland … to do the right thing.

Unfortunately, the die was cast on his greatness. Indeed, which of these do you think is more worthy of being hailed as great:

A player who stays with his struggling team until he leads it to a championship? or
A player who abandons his struggling team to join a championship team (for a guaranteed championship ring) – even if he returns to that abandoned team and finally does what he should have stayed and done in the first place?

I mean, can you imagine Boston’s Larry Bird taking his talents to Los Angeles for a guaranteed shot at a championship ring? If he did, even that notorious betrayer, Benedict Arnold, would have nothing on him in the contempt files of Bostonians.

In any event, I get why sports commentators continually foment debate about whether LeBron is greater than Michael. This is just their version of click bait. Because, as good as LeBron undoubtedly is, he’s still two NBA rings and a world of on-court gamesmanship away from being worthy of serious debate in this respect.

That said, here is how I followed up on Kevin Durant’s equally opportunistic decision to take his talents to Golden State in “Players Like LeBron and KD Can Never Be Among the Greatest,” September 14, 2018:

________

He is the reigning MVP of the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Except that Durant abandoned his team, the Oklahoma Thunder (OKC), in 2016 to join the Warriors – who had just won its latest NBA championship in 2015. Therefore, it was hardly surprising when KD helped it win repeat championships in 2017 and 2018.

This is why he is more like LeBron, and can never be like Mike.

Donald Trump created all kinds of new norms in politics, all of which have leaders pursuing personal glory at all costs – the welfare of the country be damned. Arguably, LeBron created a new norm in sports, which has players pursuing championship rings at all costs – loyalty to any team be damned.

The excerpt above makes clear how I feel about this if-you-can’t-beat-them-join-them route to NBA championships. But I’m sure the flak I got for daring to pooh-pooh LeBron’s greatness stemmed from the fact that I had no standing – as a player or as an analyst – to criticize him.

This is why I was so gratified last week when no less a person than NBA Hall of Famer and TV analyst Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier pooh-poohed KD’s greatness. Not least because, in doing so, he echoed what I said about LeBron eight years ago:

Durant, as great a player as he is, I would still hold back because man, he joined a team that really didn’t need him. … [F]or him doing that I still don’t give him the full credit that he probably would’ve deserved if he stayed with OKC and won a title with that team.

(NBC Sports, August 30, 2018)

I would say I couldn’t have said it better myself, but that’s basically what I said. The only question now is whether Clyde would change his opinion if KD fully emulated LeBron by returning to OKC and finally delivering that championship he promised. Of course, he would probably abandon it again for greener pastures if the struggle resumed – just like LeBron, who has now taken his talents to Los Angeles.

Incidentally, Clyde stayed with his struggling New York Knicks until he led it to its only two NBA championships (1970, 1973). Unfortunately, the team thanked him by trading him out to pasture in, of all places, Cleveland.

In any event, having aped LeBron by selling his basketball soul for a championship ring (or two), the die is cast on KD’s greatness too. Accordingly, just as an asterisk should be placed next to LeBron’s name on the scroll of NBA greats, one should be placed next to Durant’s too.

________

I hope all of that explains why Dr. J’s controversial remarks about LeBron today merely echoed what I wrote he and other legends must have been thinking when LeBron abandoned Cleveland over 11 years ago.

The Hall of Famer made waves on social media on Wednesday, when he assembled his all-time NBA roster. …

Erving’s all-time starting five includes obvious names: Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. Though, some would argue Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson’s absence. His second team features Jordan, Magic, Larry Bird, Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Erving then took it upon himself to explain James’ absence in his all-time roster, as if he knew the backlash was already brewing.

‘He was a guy who led the charge in terms of ‘super teams’ being put together,’ Erving said, noting how James had a role in recruiting talent to Miami, Cleveland and Los Angeles — all of which ended in championships with James leading the way..

‘He can pick his own team, I ain’t going to pick his team,’ Erving said, laughing.

(The New York Post, April 28, 2021)

Indeed.

But, unlike Dr. J, I grant LeBron a little redemption for returning to Cleveland after his stint in Miami to win with his home team. Likewise, in fairness to Dr. J, can we at least give him some credit for leaving himself even off his own B-team…?

I doubt even mediocre players today would be so modest. Not to mention that I would pick Dr. J before Karl Malone for my A-team of all-time NBA greats. But hey …

Finally, the prevailing argument against Dr. J’s remarks is that players are exercising clout he could never have even dreamed of. This, by building their own super teams – the owners who used to treat them as “slaves” be damned. Except this also means that loyal fans who used to hail them as heroes be damned.

Not to mention that LeBron returned to Cleveland and built a “super team” to win a championship. In doing so, he undermined this fatuous idea of great players needing to join championship teams to win, instead of building their own teams to do so.

Of course, LeBron abandoned Cleveland again – to take his talents to Los Angeles this time. I would understand if he had a falling out with management like Michael had in Chicago. But I gather LeBron just wanted to go Hollywood.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with players like LeBron and KD using their new-found clout to prevail upon owners to build super (home) teams to support them, respectively. But they should wait until they retire to try to be like Mike; that is, by building a team … that they actually own.