Does the amount of Teams he played for hurt Lebron's legacy?

[MystikSpiral]

LeBron going back to get one for Cleveland is basically movie stuff especially when you consider the vitriol from fans, the wild letter from Dan Gilbert, and Cleveland’s first championship coming from a 3-1 comeback. Really hard to beat that from a narrative standpoint.

That never happens, if the NBA doesn't suspend Draymond Green on some random altercation for the sake of extending the series...

[AmIWrongDude]

LeBron going back to get one for Cleveland is basically movie stuff especially when you consider the vitriol from fans, the wild letter from Dan Gilbert, and Cleveland’s first championship coming from a 3-1 comeback. Really hard to beat that from a narrative standpoint.

That never happens, if the NBA doesn't suspend Draymond Green on some random altercation for the sake of extending the series...

“Random” is doing a lot of work here. Draymond was only out because of accumulated flagrants. He probably should’ve been suspended in the OKC series but wasn’t and then decided it would be a good idea to hit LeBron in the balls after he was already in hot water. Thats far from random.

Even if you would for some reason use that excuse, Warriors still had 2 games to get the job done but Bron put up arguably the best finals performance ever and Kyrie was locked in too. It’s really not hard to not get suspended but Draymond begs for it

[zimpy27]

Bosh joined same time. It was a discussion between the 3.
Love was traded for by the Cavs after LeBron arrived.
Davis was traded for by the Lakers after LeBron arrived.

There were many more ready made teams he could have joined right?

Let's not act like Lebron didn't know exactly what was happening.

Even when he went to LA, my two friends (lebron fans, poor things) were bummed because they thought he ruined his winning chances.

I said "Don't worry, he's planning for either Davis or Kawhi to come to LA to form another ridiculous duo".

lo and behold.

Ok but even LeBron and AD isn’t some super stacked team. LeBron absolutely could’ve joined other teams and been almost guaranteed rings but he didn’t. Just like when he went back to Cleveland he could’ve joined other teams and had a better chance of winning but he wanted to make things right in Cleveland.

I think he deserves **** for the Miami move but going back to Cleveland and going to LA were far from stacking the deck and he could’ve if he wanted to.

Exactly, if it was just Davis on the Lakers with the rest of the chaps then it's not even a playoff team you'd be adding LeBron too.

LeBron could have gone to any number of already existing contenders.

[AmIWrongDude]

Let's not act like Lebron didn't know exactly what was happening.

Even when he went to LA, my two friends (lebron fans, poor things) were bummed because they thought he ruined his winning chances.

I said "Don't worry, he's planning for either Davis or Kawhi to come to LA to form another ridiculous duo".

lo and behold.

Ok but even LeBron and AD isn’t some super stacked team. LeBron absolutely could’ve joined other teams and been almost guaranteed rings but he didn’t. Just like when he went back to Cleveland he could’ve joined other teams and had a better chance of winning but he wanted to make things right in Cleveland.

I think he deserves **** for the Miami move but going back to Cleveland and going to LA were far from stacking the deck and he could’ve if he wanted to.

Exactly, if it was just Davis on the Lakers with the rest of the chaps then it's not even a playoff team you'd be adding LeBron too.

LeBron could have gone to any number of already existing contenders.

Ya when Bron went to LA everyone said he doesn’t care about winning anymore he just wants to go Hollywood

[Statlanta]

Yes. LeBron fans say he has 3 HOF careers based in his Cavs prime, Heat prime and Lakers prime but he's really only an Akron/Cleveland/Ohio legend.

His Miami accomplishments don't feel grand because Wade and Riley mean more to the organization

His LA accomplishments don't feel as grand because the Lakers have way to many legends and historic moments that even his record setting(like the all-time scoring record) feels quaint.

If he had the same accomplishments but remained in Cleveland he would have a much more respected and revered legacy especially given Cleveland's history as a moribund franchise. It would be as if he built the current billion dollar franchise evaluation single handedly.

[Frank Dux]

In short, yes. To me it does, at least. Of course it's not a huge deal but I don't appreciate his team hopping and LeGM antics. Don't think it's been that good for the teams he's played for, either.

Might type a more elaborate response later.

As a Laker fan, I heavily disagree. We got the tail end of of his run, he delivered a title, brought back relevancy, and broke the all time scoring record here. I don’t care if he team hops again, I’ll always be thankful for his run here.

Cleveland? He delivered a title and arguably playerd his best ball there. You’d be out of your mind if you think Cleveland fans were better off without him.

Miami got two titles out of him. Whatever “LeGM” antics he pulled there will be forgotten. He helped turn the Heat into brand that has global relevance.

[lakerz12]

No, but deliberately forming a super team in Miami and still only netting 4 rings for his career does.

[bledredwine]

LeBron going back to get one for Cleveland is basically movie stuff especially when you consider the vitriol from fans, the wild letter from Dan Gilbert, and Cleveland’s first championship coming from a 3-1 comeback. Really hard to beat that from a narrative standpoint.

That never happens, if the NBA doesn't suspend Draymond Green on some random altercation for the sake of extending the series...

“Random” is doing a lot of work here. Draymond was only out because of accumulated flagrants. He probably should’ve been suspended in the OKC series but wasn’t and then decided it would be a good idea to hit LeBron in the balls after he was already in hot water. Thats far from random.

Even if you would for some reason use that excuse, Warriors still had 2 games to get the job done but Bron put up arguably the best finals performance ever and Kyrie was locked in too. It’s really not hard to not get suspended but Draymond begs for it

I would say that it’s stacked in that he played with someone who was as good as him, especially in the finals winning series. I consider it a form of teaming up, as if Kobe teamed up with a peak dwight howard (but dwight wasn’t as reliably there).

Lebron knew what was up. He’s never purposefully gone to a spot that didn’t land a huge star or two. Tone the best in the league and team up with someone at your level is a stacked 1-2 and easy to build around.

[nate33]

I think it actually helps his legacy.

He's the only player in NBA history to prove that he can win in 3 completely different teams, different teammates and coaches. He led all 3 to championships and got finals MVP.

I actually think Jordans 6 with Pippen and Jackson is not telling you that Jordan was the common denominator. Rather the combination of the 3 was important and it worked well enough to repeat. Jordan teams didn't look so good without the triangle system. We can only guess if he could have won on other teams and in other systems, no proof.

KAJ also proved it like LeBron.

I disagree.

Lebron joins teams, gets them to mortgage their future to build enough win-now talent, wins, and then leaves the team in shambles to go repeat the same process on a new team that has already sacrificed to accumulate assets.

It's certainly a smart move that enables Lebron to have enough talent around him to compete for championships, but I think it tarnishes the value of his legacy a bit. I'm not as impressed that Lebron has so many career playoff games and so many Finals appearances because he did so by hopping onto different teams while they were at the peak of their development/compete/rebuild cycle and hopping off to miss out on the losing portion of the cycle. What Jordan, Russell and Duncan did by winning 5+ titles on the same team is more impressive.

Any team with LeBron was going to go all in for rings.

Just like any contending team does and would do with an all time great. Just look at Denver.

I agree. But with the exception of his first stint in Cleveland, Lebron never had to deal with a capped out, over-the-hill roster with no incoming youth to replenish the ranks. When the team gets to that point, he leaves.

[JujitsuFlip]

I disagree.

Lebron joins teams, gets them to mortgage their future to build enough win-now talent, wins, and then leaves the team in shambles to go repeat the same process on a new team that has already sacrificed to accumulate assets.

It's certainly a smart move that enables Lebron to have enough talent around him to compete for championships, but I think it tarnishes the value of his legacy a bit. I'm not as impressed that Lebron has so many career playoff games and so many Finals appearances because he did so by hopping onto different teams while they were at the peak of their development/compete/rebuild cycle and hopping off to miss out on the losing portion of the cycle. What Jordan, Russell and Duncan did by winning 5+ titles on the same team is more impressive.

Any team with LeBron was going to go all in for rings.

Just like any contending team does and would do with an all time great. Just look at Denver.

I agree. But with the exception of his first stint in Cleveland, Lebron never had to deal with a capped out, over-the-hill roster with no incoming youth to replenish the ranks. When the team gets to that point, he leaves.

How is this a knock though? lol what greats have had to deal with that and what was the result for them?

[nate33]

Any team with LeBron was going to go all in for rings.

Just like any contending team does and would do with an all time great. Just look at Denver.

I agree. But with the exception of his first stint in Cleveland, Lebron never had to deal with a capped out, over-the-hill roster with no incoming youth to replenish the ranks. When the team gets to that point, he leaves.

How is this a knock though? lol what greats have had to deal with that and what was the result for them?

It means he has had more opportunities to compete for a championship than most stars because he never has to endure the rebuild cycle. It's a smart move from his perspective, but it means I discount some of his milestones like making the Finals in 9 out of 10 consecutive seasons.

[NoStatsGuy]

I think its far more impressive to be part of a dynasty and dominate the nba with the organization that drafted you like a Jordan or Duncan in comparison to team hopping and teaming up with other established all star players to win.

If only every all time great had the front office and coaches these guys had within the earlier parts of their career.

This narrative is so tiring it shouldn't need to be expanded on.

He could have stayed in Miami with Spo (future HOF coach) and let Riley build a roster around him. Miami is one of the top nba organizations in drafting and developing talent, plus they are a top free agent destination. But im glad we will overlook this because it doesnt make him look good. Lol come on man.

hindsight is 20-20 my guy.

his desire to win one for his hometown team, the first one in franchise history, was bigger than staying in a big market, "top nba organization". show me how you trun that against lebron... 3, 2, 1, go.

[FarBeyondDriven]

it doesn't help but I think it's far down on the list of reasons why his legacy isn't nearly as strong as his offensive numbers in the weakest era in NBA history suggests, behind leaving Cleveland to form a super team, the embarrassing 'Decision' and "not 1, not 2, not 3...." proclamations, losing to the Mavs in laughable fashion, needing a Ray Allen prayer to beat the Spurs for a ring, needing Kyrie to go crazy and the 2016 Finals to be rigged to get another and adding a top 5 talent and getting a joke bubble ring. But worst of all is that the kid was almost universally loved and admired entering the league with most everyone enamored and rooting for him because of his enormous talent but he squandered all of it with his antics over the years.

[The4thHorseman]

Always funny when people refer to Ray Allen's game tying 3 as a prayer or miracle. Was a catch and shoot corner 3 by the guy who (at the time) was the all time leader in 3PM really considered a miracle?

[BodieB]

No, but deliberately forming a super team in Miami and still only netting 4 rings for his career does.

Lol "only".

[Lalouie]

what has hurt lebron's legacy is what steph is doing right now

for years lebron has been a unanimous #1 of the league
but the WAY steph is pulling this team together has simply magnified why curry's light is brighter

and btw, kd is in the same sinking boat as lebron

[Wingy]

LeBron going back to get one for Cleveland is basically movie stuff especially when you consider the vitriol from fans, the wild letter from Dan Gilbert, and Cleveland’s first championship coming from a 3-1 comeback. Really hard to beat that from a narrative standpoint.

That never happens, if the NBA doesn't suspend Draymond Green on some random altercation for the sake of extending the series...

It wasn’t random. He deserved that suspension. That said, the greatest thing Bron ever did was completely fragile and hinged on one dude acting like a child.

That that said, that’s still part of who Draymond is as a player and his greatest flaw, so I still tip my cap to the Cavs for taking advantage and getting it done that year. Still a great story for Cleveland. Yet I don’t give it some insane-level of credit given the context. Steph was nicked, Draymond was/is a moron. When one of the opponent’s key players is that volatile, and emotionally unstable, that’s a major weakness, not indicative of some invincible juggernaut.

[darkse1d]

there's no point making post anything lebron related cause he has legion of fans that will compliment him no matter what.

As to answer your question, i don't care that he team hopped to win championships. My only issue with how he did it. He went to Miami and created a super team to stack the deck and win not 1, not 2, not 3 and so on and proceeded to get humbled. Then he saw greener pastures in cleveland who had kyrie and the #1 pick and traded that pick to get Love. Except there was another kid from Akron who came and stole the thunder from him by humbling him and beating him, not once, not twice etc.

Then he left cleveland after forcing the team to sign his buddies to massive contract cause he saw a better future with lakers giving their picks and cap space and we know what happened there.

Nothing he did was organic. He and his PR picked the perfect situation for him to win a ring. Except it didn't go as perfectly planned. He lost twice in miami. he lost 4 times in cleveland the second time around and he didn't even much of a chance in the west despite having AD because of how brutal the west is where every round in the playoffs is a finals series.

[JujitsuFlip]

what has hurt lebron's legacy is what steph is doing right now

for years lebron has been a unanimous #1 of the league
but the WAY steph is pulling this team together has simply magnified why curry's light is brighter

and btw, kd is in the same sinking boat as lebron

Yeah I'm sure Buddy Heild hitting 9 threes for 33 points in an elimination game is awesome for Steph's career lololol

[Lalouie]

what has hurt lebron's legacy is what steph is doing right now

for years lebron has been a unanimous #1 of the league
but the WAY steph is pulling this team together has simply magnified why curry's light is brighter

and btw, kd is in the same sinking boat as lebron

Yeah I'm sure Buddy Heild hitting 9 threes for 33 points in an elimination game is awesome for Steph's career lololol

it's not who else does what. every superstar needs help. it is HOW a superstar helps his mates

steph is comfortable letting his mates do their thing cuz he'll do his thing when necessary. i'm not even a big steph fan but i thought this was pretty obvious. he can do this because of the ease with which he can bundle points. it frees his up to be magnanimous to everyone else.

lebron wants to take over no matter who he plays with (miami), and that is the ONLY WAY he knows how to play