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

[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

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

You might want to go revisit game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals.

[hugepatsfan]

I think it's made him seem like a mercenary to some degree. Obviously his relationship with CLE is special, but I don't think LAL or MIA fans really "claim" him and even the CLE relationship gets complicated to some degree by him leaving a couple of times. I think the word "nostalgia" comes up a lot when we compare Lebron to other eras and I think his "mercenary" nature is going to stop anyone from having as strong a sense of that nostalgia for him.

[Ainosterhaspie]

There have been several posts in this thread from people saying something like, "it's ok that he moved, it's just not ok where he moved". Of course, we never get told where it would have been acceptable for him to go. It's OK to go somewhere else, but not to go anywhere where he might have a strong roster. It's OK to move as long as he can't win when he does.

[ball_takes23]

There have been several posts in this thread from people saying something like, "it's ok that he moved, it's just not ok where he moved". Of course, we never get told where it would have been acceptable for him to go. It's OK to go somewhere else, but not to go anywhere where he might have a strong roster. It's OK to move as long as he can't win when he does.

It’s okay for him to have strong rosters, but it’s also okay for his expectations to be much higher when he does.

[dc]

Assuming Lebron plays for the Lakers next year, it'll be his 8th consecutive season with them, making it his longest continous stint with one team (he was in Cleveland 7 years in his first stint there).

[art_tatum]

Yes only because he tried to stack teams, and the only reason he changed teams was for the opportunity to stack teams except for when he joined the lakers. But he knew they can get another star or two to LA easily bc it’s the lakers.

Left the cavs which I actually was cool with, but he decided to form a super team with two other top ten players he colluded with during the Olympics.

When the heatles looked like they peaked he saw tehe opportunity to go back to the cavs to restore his image and play with their up and coming talent, especially number 1 pick Kryie, and their trade stash. He wrote how he was there to mentor the youth but a month later the youth was traded for the wolves 1st option 25/15 Kevin love in his prime. His teams were by far the most talented team in the east for like 8 years and it wasn’t close.

When he moved to LA I thought he would rightfully focus on his business ventures now. They missed the playoffs in 2019 after LeBron activated playoff mode when he came back from a short injury. But it’s ok he was 35.

But they planned and got a top 3/5 player AD also from Klutch sports and won in 2020 in Disney. But underperformed the years after.
And now gifted another younger top 3 player in Luka for a top 10 player in 2025 in AD.

So I think in 30 years the team movement and the era he has defined - the player empowerment and super team era, will be looked upon with mixed opinions, something that will imo be always associated with LeBron who is a goat.

[MavsDirk41]

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.

Lol i dont buy any of that “desire to win one for the hometown stuff”

He went back because Cleveland had a 22 year old all star guard and the #1 pick in the draft to trade for another all star player. He wanted to play with two all stars in Cleveland like he did in Miami. But believe what you will.

[ShootersShoot]

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.

Lol i dont buy any of that “desire to win one for the hometown stuff”

He went back because Cleveland had a 22 year old all star guard and the #1 pick in the draft to trade for another all star player. He wanted to play with two all stars in Cleveland like he did in Miami. But believe what you will.

Yea its a convenient narrative..if he wanted to win for cleveland so bad why did he leave to the lakers a few years later? Why was only one ring for cleveland enough?

[badpotato]

Real NBA GOAT is allowed 3 teams in his career only if one of them is a baseball team.

[MavsDirk41]

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.

Lol i dont buy any of that “desire to win one for the hometown stuff”

He went back because Cleveland had a 22 year old all star guard and the #1 pick in the draft to trade for another all star player. He wanted to play with two all stars in Cleveland like he did in Miami. But believe what you will.

Yea its a convenient narrative..if he wanted to win for cleveland so bad why did he leave to the lakers a few years later? Why was only one ring for cleveland enough?

Yea i dont buy any of that at all. Not sure why anybody would want to leave Miami to go back to Cleveland that makes no sense. HOF head coach, Riley running the organization, no state taxes in Florida. Been to the finals twice since he left.

[NbaAllDay]

Lol i dont buy any of that “desire to win one for the hometown stuff”

He went back because Cleveland had a 22 year old all star guard and the #1 pick in the draft to trade for another all star player. He wanted to play with two all stars in Cleveland like he did in Miami. But believe what you will.

Yea its a convenient narrative..if he wanted to win for cleveland so bad why did he leave to the lakers a few years later? Why was only one ring for cleveland enough?

Yea i dont buy any of that at all. Not sure why anybody would want to leave Miami to go back to Cleveland that makes no sense. HOF head coach, Riley running the organization, no state taxes in Florida. Been to the finals twice since he left.

Makes no sense yet you parrot exactly what you "believe" Lebron was thinking.

The ironic hindsight of thinking joining a bottom feeder with 'Kyrie Irving' (pretending like he is a top 10 league player at the time to reinforce your narrative) with a number 1 pick that apparently is 'easy' to trade as if that's a better move than staying in Miami as you claim with a HOF coach, Riley, no state taxes and multiple finals runs.

Yet refuse that part of the decision was he wanted to go back to Cleveland as its his home town?

What narrative are you choosing here? Hard to keep up with the clown show.

[Uncle Mxy]

Let's ask the REALLY impotent question... does the number of teams Bronny will play for affect LeBron's legacy?

Sheesh...

[ShootersShoot]

Lol i dont buy any of that “desire to win one for the hometown stuff”

He went back because Cleveland had a 22 year old all star guard and the #1 pick in the draft to trade for another all star player. He wanted to play with two all stars in Cleveland like he did in Miami. But believe what you will.

Yea its a convenient narrative..if he wanted to win for cleveland so bad why did he leave to the lakers a few years later? Why was only one ring for cleveland enough?

Yea i dont buy any of that at all. Not sure why anybody would want to leave Miami to go back to Cleveland that makes no sense. HOF head coach, Riley running the organization, no state taxes in Florida. Been to the finals twice since he left.

I can understand wanting to go back to cleveland, especially with their blue chip assets at the time. But what him leaving a few years later after coming back paints the narrative that he only went back because cle had very strong assets at the time. A few years later, once the teams outlook did not look as good, he left again. It makes him look more like a mercenary than some loyal to cleveland guy.

Now personally I dont care that bron did that nor do I think it was a bad move ethically, morally, or whatever. He is free to do as he wishes in regards to his career. But folks saying he is so loyal for going back to cleveland are being disingenuous imo. It was a great story but lets not pretend that he did it mainly because he missed cleveland that much.

[Raonak]

There's just something more special staying with your team your entire career.

[scrabbarista]

For me, it's a net negative, but at such a marginal level that it's hardly worth discussing. It does make me view his career a bit more negatively, but not so much that it affects where I would rank his NBA career on an all-time list. He's still only played for three teams.

EDIT: When I say net negative, I mean in a vacuum, all else being equal, of course. In fact, it may have been a net positive, given his titles, FMVP's, etc.. We will probably never know how things would've happened if he'd just stayed in Cleveland or Miami.

[The4thHorseman]

Lol i dont buy any of that “desire to win one for the hometown stuff”

He went back because Cleveland had a 22 year old all star guard and the #1 pick in the draft to trade for another all star player. He wanted to play with two all stars in Cleveland like he did in Miami. But believe what you will.

Yea its a convenient narrative..if he wanted to win for cleveland so bad why did he leave to the lakers a few years later? Why was only one ring for cleveland enough?

Yea i dont buy any of that at all. Not sure why anybody would want to leave Miami to go back to Cleveland that makes no sense. HOF head coach, Riley running the organization, no state taxes in Florida. Been to the finals twice since he left.

If Spo stopped coaching after LeBron's last season in Miami, he wouldn't have accomplished enough to get into the HOF.

[MavsDirk41]

Yea its a convenient narrative..if he wanted to win for cleveland so bad why did he leave to the lakers a few years later? Why was only one ring for cleveland enough?

Yea i dont buy any of that at all. Not sure why anybody would want to leave Miami to go back to Cleveland that makes no sense. HOF head coach, Riley running the organization, no state taxes in Florida. Been to the finals twice since he left.

Makes no sense yet you parrot exactly what you "believe" Lebron was thinking.

The ironic hindsight of thinking joining a bottom feeder with 'Kyrie Irving' (pretending like he is a top 10 league player at the time to reinforce your narrative) with a number 1 pick that apparently is 'easy' to trade as if that's a better move than staying in Miami as you claim with a HOF coach, Riley, no state taxes and multiple finals runs.

Yet refuse that part of the decision was he wanted to go back to Cleveland as its his home town?

What narrative are you choosing here? Hard to keep up with the clown show.

Oh my gosh i don’t believe the narrative of why Lebron James went back to Cleveland……why are you so offended? Why does it bother you that people don’t believe everything that guy says? Chill man

[MavsDirk41]

Yea its a convenient narrative..if he wanted to win for cleveland so bad why did he leave to the lakers a few years later? Why was only one ring for cleveland enough?

Yea i dont buy any of that at all. Not sure why anybody would want to leave Miami to go back to Cleveland that makes no sense. HOF head coach, Riley running the organization, no state taxes in Florida. Been to the finals twice since he left.

I can understand wanting to go back to cleveland, especially with their blue chip assets at the time. But what him leaving a few years later after coming back paints the narrative that he only went back because cle had very strong assets at the time. A few years later, once the teams outlook did not look as good, he left again. It makes him look more like a mercenary than some loyal to cleveland guy.

Now personally I dont care that bron did that nor do I think it was a bad move ethically, morally, or whatever. He is free to do as he wishes in regards to his career. But folks saying he is so loyal for going back to cleveland are being disingenuous imo. It was a great story but lets not pretend that he did it mainly because he missed cleveland that much.

You are going to get hammered by his fan club just hold on

[MavsDirk41]

There's just something more special staying with your team your entire career.

Dirk!!!! Yes there is!!

[michaelm]

There have been several posts in this thread from people saying something like, "it's ok that he moved, it's just not ok where he moved". Of course, we never get told where it would have been acceptable for him to go. It's OK to go somewhere else, but not to go anywhere where he might have a strong roster. It's OK to move as long as he can't win when he does.

Ironically this is the argument advanced, often by LeBron fans, against KD.

I don’t have a problem with LeBron’s moves. I do have a problem with his fans attributing the success of other great players to ‘advantages’ they had over LeBron. Staying at the one franchise may not be intrinsically more worthy that making multiple moves, but I don’t see how it is less worthy either. If he is allowed to make whatever FA moves he chooses, as he is imo, then so is every other player.