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

[FarBeyondDriven]

not necessarily the amount of teams but the way he went about it. I think people would have more respect for him had he not played GM and ring-chased with cringe behavior like "The Decision" and "not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4.." declarations and then bailing at the first sign of adversity. But mostly, the atrocious 2011 Finals, rigged 2016 Finals and weak 2020 bubble championship do far more damage than the amount of teams he's been on.

[bledredwine]

Of course it does. He gamed the system, and everyone aside from Lebron fans see this.

It always cracks me up how Lebron fans criticize Kd for it despite his Miami stint especially after KD rocked him in the finals and got FMVP twice.

And despite that stint, they still weren’t dominant …. yeah, not 8 but two, including one you honed and nearly a second you choked if not for Allen Bosh, which would have been one ship if they didn’t save his face.

[MrTribbiani]

not necessarily the amount of teams but the way he went about it. I think people would have more respect for him had he not played GM and ring-chased with cringe behavior like "The Decision" and "not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4.." declarations and then bailing at the first sign of adversity. But mostly, the atrocious 2011 Finals, rigged 2016 Finals and weak 2020 bubble championship do far more damage than the amount of teams he's been on.

I personally respect him more for carving his own path instead of relying too much on others like Jordan did (he is so lucky that he had Jerry Krause as his GM).

Jordan never had to deal with any serious adversity (regarding his playing career). He is one of the luckiest players in NBA history.

The 2016 finals were not rigged (the GSW just couldn't get the job done) and the 2020 championship holds the same amount of weight as any other championship as far as I'm concerned.

[MavsDirk41]

not necessarily the amount of teams but the way he went about it. I think people would have more respect for him had he not played GM and ring-chased with cringe behavior like "The Decision" and "not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4.." declarations and then bailing at the first sign of adversity. But mostly, the atrocious 2011 Finals, rigged 2016 Finals and weak 2020 bubble championship do far more damage than the amount of teams he's been on.

I personally respect him more for carving his own path instead of relying too much on others like Jordan did (he is so lucky that he had Jerry Krause as his GM).

Jordan never had to deal with any serious adversity (regarding his playing career). He is one of the luckiest players in NBA history.

The 2016 finals were not rigged (the GSW just couldn't get the job done) and the 2020 championship holds the same amount of weight as any other championship as far as I'm concerned.

And picking your teammates and where you want to play is facing adversity? Your on a roll kid lol

[bledredwine]

not necessarily the amount of teams but the way he went about it. I think people would have more respect for him had he not played GM and ring-chased with cringe behavior like "The Decision" and "not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4.." declarations and then bailing at the first sign of adversity. But mostly, the atrocious 2011 Finals, rigged 2016 Finals and weak 2020 bubble championship do far more damage than the amount of teams he's been on.

I personally respect him more for carving his own path instead of relying too much on others like Jordan did (he is so lucky that he had Jerry Krause as his GM).

Jordan never had to deal with any serious adversity (regarding his playing career). He is one of the luckiest players in NBA history.

The 2016 finals were not rigged (the GSW just couldn't get the job done) and the 2020 championship holds the same amount of weight as any other championship as far as I'm concerned.

Never faced adversity? Are you kidding? Did you follow any 80s basketball, or peak at the 1990 series stats of the bulls against the pistons in the playoffs where everyone else shot like .200 from the fueld? How ridiculous.

The difference is Jordan was a level ahead of everyone in the league and did have players like Dirk, KD, and JJ Barea whooping his ass, was able to hit 3 out of every 4 free throws unlike lebron (well over that), could shoot way better than the 30 percentile from midrange that Lebron does, took great care of the ball, actually played consistent defense and was actually clutch when it came to game winning or tying plays.

All of that adds up to wins, obviously.

[FarBeyondDriven]

I believe mercenary is being used in the military sense, that he is a sword for hire, rather than making these moves mainly for his own financial benefit. He could be seen as a mercenary in that sense I guess, but I could see a case for the reverse, that he has perhaps employed several teams for his own ends, and good luck to him for doing so, the owners of NBA teams have made a fortune off the back of players such as him and Curry in the LeBron era. Imo there is a dichotomy among NBA fandom between people who are fans of individual players and people who are fans teams/franchises with neither side seeing the perspective of the other, which I try to do but probably not very well.

I actually agree he has been the leader of an era of player empowerment, and had a long term role with the Players’ Association. By and large his team mates have gotten paid rather than him asking them to take pay cuts which would probably have helped him in constructing his teams.

The military sense is exactly what I was referring to which is a soldier whose main priority is money rather than loyalty to a country or a certain ruler. That's the standard definition. Nothing else you're saying above really needs a response. The whole idea of loyalty in professional sports was outdated 30 years ago when Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs spent 10+ years with the Red Sox then ended up going to the Yankees to win rings. It's not a real thing anymore, its only brought up with LeBron because some people have this endless axe to grind with him on message boards or in social media. It's also silly when people act like he left the Cavs high and dry in 2018 when the Cavs in their 40 years without LeBron have 0 finals appearance and with him have 5 finals and 1 ring. So our only mvp level player in franchise history had us trade some frps for actual team success as opposed to a previous owner who was trading them only for his own personal gain(Ted Stepien). As a Cavs fan, I think I'm ok with that.

Clemens left the Red Sox for the Blue Jays not the Yankees. He did leave the Blue Jays a couple of years later to chase-rings with the Yankees though.

Boggs wasn't ring chasing either. He was offered more years and money from the Yankees and they hadn't won a championship since 1978 and while they were clearly on the upswing they weren't a team you went to to ring chase at that point unlike when Clemens joined them.

[Yank3525]

Of course it hurts him to some degree. It definitely hurts KD's legacy.

Honestly, Bron is really lucky that the new CBA is going make it harder for guys to win mutiple rings. Because if someone like Shai or Wemby win 2-3 rings with the teams that drafted him then people will start to look at Bron's resume differently.

[MrGoat]

Maybe a little but not like it does with Durant, but that's because he got a title in every place he's been. Going back to Cleveland and being part of getting them one did a lot for LeBron's legacy

[MrTribbiani]

Of course it hurts him to some degree. It definitely hurts KD's legacy.

Honestly, Bron is really lucky that the new CBA is going make it harder for guys to win mutiple rings. Because if someone like Shai or Wemby win 2-3 rings with the teams that drafted him then people will start to look at Bron's resume differently.

Being too dependent on a front office for success hurts a player's legacy. That's one reason why guys like Duncan, Curry, and Jordan have less favorable legacies in comparison to LeBron.

KD's legacy is great, he'll be a first ballot HOF, and I consider him a top 20 player of all time.

Regarding the CBA, you could make the same argument about someone like Steph. Shai already has almost as many All-NBA First Team selections as Curry.

[azcatz11]

Bron's legacy is that he's played as well as he has this late in his career. He's contributed to the league's brand-building by being a clean controversy-free family man all those decades he's played. He's a one-off and that's his legacy.

Do you have Jordan above Lebron?

[Yank3525]

Of course it hurts him to some degree. It definitely hurts KD's legacy.

Honestly, Bron is really lucky that the new CBA is going make it harder for guys to win mutiple rings. Because if someone like Shai or Wemby win 2-3 rings with the teams that drafted him then people will start to look at Bron's resume differently.

Being too dependent on a front office for success hurts a player's legacy. That's one reason why guys like Duncan, Curry, and Jordan have less favorable legacies in comparison to LeBron.

KD's legacy is great, he'll be a first ballot HOF, and I consider him a top 20 player of all time.

Regarding the CBA, you could make the same argument about someone like Steph. Shai already has almost as many All-NBA First Team selections as Curry.

Go troll somewhere else. It is literally the opposite.

[MrTribbiani]

Of course it hurts him to some degree. It definitely hurts KD's legacy.

Honestly, Bron is really lucky that the new CBA is going make it harder for guys to win mutiple rings. Because if someone like Shai or Wemby win 2-3 rings with the teams that drafted him then people will start to look at Bron's resume differently.

Being too dependent on a front office for success hurts a player's legacy. That's one reason why guys like Duncan, Curry, and Jordan have less favorable legacies in comparison to LeBron.

KD's legacy is great, he'll be a first ballot HOF, and I consider him a top 20 player of all time.

Regarding the CBA, you could make the same argument about someone like Steph. Shai already has almost as many All-NBA First Team selections as Curry.

Go troll somewhere else. It is literally the opposite.

Why so sensitive? Not everyone is gonna share your opinions regarding player's legacies.

[Cavsfansince84]

Clemens left the Red Sox for the Blue Jays not the Yankees. He did leave the Blue Jays a couple of years later to chase-rings with the Yankees though.

Boggs wasn't ring chasing either. He was offered more years and money from the Yankees and they hadn't won a championship since 1978 and while they were clearly on the upswing they weren't a team you went to to ring chase at that point unlike when Clemens joined them.

I literally said they ended up going to the Yankees. I didn't say straight from one to the other. I was a big baseball fan in the 80's and 90's, I remember all of that. My point was that they were and are still are the biggest rivalry in mlb and them going to the Yankees to ring chase(yes they got paid but the Yankees were hugely on the rise from 94 on) was definitely part of it imo.

[MavsDirk41]

Being too dependent on a front office for success hurts a player's legacy. That's one reason why guys like Duncan, Curry, and Jordan have less favorable legacies in comparison to LeBron.

KD's legacy is great, he'll be a first ballot HOF, and I consider him a top 20 player of all time.

Regarding the CBA, you could make the same argument about someone like Steph. Shai already has almost as many All-NBA First Team selections as Curry.

Go troll somewhere else. It is literally the opposite.

Why so sensitive? Not everyone is gonna share your opinions regarding player's legacies.

Put a poll up and see what the outcome is if you are so confident in your stance then….you wont because you know what the outcome would be

[ScrantonBulls]

Read on Twitter

I love that we have a mod that's committed to bumping the absolute slop threads and make life more difficult for the General Board mods

[phanman]

The way the question is framed, you'd think he was some sort of journeyman. I don't think people realize that he's only played for 3 franchises in what will be 22 seasons. Given how free agency has changed from the previous generations, 3 teams isn't crazy at all. Especially given the fact that he exercised his right to leave as a FREE agent... He never forced his way out of any team and in case you missed it, he's won a chip/FMVP with all three of them. I mean sure he's heavily influenced his front office into making certain personnel decisions, but he or his fans have never claimed that he was perfect. I think the two most damaging things to his legacy was the G5 and even G6 against Boston in 2010 where it looked like he was already mentally checked out and then the Finals in 2011.

Not every superstar has had the luxury of a competent front office to both evolve and build around an aging superstar like Steph and Timmy had. I mean Shaq played for 6 teams and KD will be joining in his 6th once traded (counting Seattle).

[Bankai]

Yes. Why I never put LeBron over Jordan is that LeBron actively through out his career went out and and tried to keep stacking the chips in his favour, anywhere he could. Despite that, he came up short time and time again with a horrendous Finals Win Percentage. He cant seal the deal.

Its like trying to cheat in a shooting video game, with wall hacks and auto aim. And somehow you still keep getting killed over and over.

[bkkrh]

Did it hurt Wilt's legacy? Or Shaq's, who was on 6 different teams? Kevin Garnett? Dwyane Wade? Charles Barkley? Scottie Pippen? Ewing, Nash, Kidd, A. I., Payton, Pierce, Nique, Ray Allen?

I think most people just forget how many All 75 players were on at least 3 teams and just remember their prime teams, or the teams they won titles with. The players that stuck with 1 or 2 teams often just got lucky during the draft. It's a lot easier to stick with 1 team if I get drafted by the Celtics or Lakers, or wind up on another team at the right moment from a coach/GM perspective.

As long as players don't have any free choice on which team they start their career on, you can't blame them for switching teams.

[JRoy]

Yes.

The whole Superfriends saga was garbage.

[MaxZaslofskyJr]

I dunno. Does it hurt Bill Russell's legacy because he had the advantage of some sort of team continuity and cohesiveness his entire career? Doh. It's a challenge to adapt like that no matter what talent you hook up with.