[Shams/Woj] LeBron James to sign a 2-year, $104 million max deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. Deal includes NTC.

[Ballerhogger]

Actually surprised it's only 2 not 3

Same. I thought it would have been better (for the Lakers) if it was 3. Pelicans still have the Laker picks for the next 3 seasons.

Lebron wants to keep opting out so he can keep signing for higher salaries after every year or every other year. He’s done this before with the Cavs too.

That’s how you keep making money but I think he’s done in 2 years

[MarcusBrody]

Never thought I'd see the day Lebron becomes a bad contract, but here we are.

How is this a bad contract? Injury risk? LeBron was a fringe top 10 player last year and his commercial value is off the charts. I imagine that he will continue to decline, but he projects to still be a very good player this season. It's not as of there is anyone out there that would move the needle that thr Lakers didn't sign to choose LeBron.

A NTC implies a top 3 kind of player. Fringe top 10 guys don't get NTCs. He's a good player, but if he's taking the max you can't compete for a championship. Even with AD they couldnt.

1. Do the top 3 players even have no trade clauses? I think only Beal has one. This one seems basically symbolic as it's a 1+1 contract. It's not a 5 year max.

2. The Lakers basically have no path to top contender status even if LeBron takes a payout. Who's the best available free agent? Derozan probably, but he doesn't solve their problems at all. Saddiq Bey? Miles Bridges? It seems that Lebron waited for the first wave of signings then signed. I don't know if he was waiting to see how things shook out, waiting for them to sign Bronny, or just wasn't in a hurry, but by the time he signed, the Lakers were basically locked in where they were.

So I don't see it as a bad contract as he was still a big plus last year ( their offense without him was terribly stagnant) and it didn't really prevent them from getting better as there wasn't another path.

[Effigy]

LeBron just milking the Lakers at this point.

He was eligible for a 3-year, $160M deal.

Probably will opt out next year and do this again lol.

[Decipher]

Bought a pair of LeBron XXIs yesterday to increase his off court earnings

Obviously wasn’t enough for him to take a discount

I tried

[Nowascki]

As a Lebron fan it's frustrating seeing that he basically gave up on his legacy now. This will be a garbage play-in team.

[Warriorfan]

My dream is undermanned Warriors win another chip and further solidifys Curry as the Russell to LeBron Wilt.

Plus puts more of an asterisk on LeBrons Covid title

[Camby_Bamby]

As a Lebron fan it's frustrating seeing that he basically gave up on his legacy now. This will be a garbage play-in team.

You're a later bloomer. Most Lebron fans gave up on him winning again after covid. To be more specific, the last time they openly had expectations for him to win was in the playoffs against the Suns where AD went down. Media and his fans claimed that Lebron would carry the Lakers into the sweep before they lost 4 games straight and claimed that Bron was injured.

After that, every season has been about praising Lebron's old age and stats.

[Lalouie]

so lebron thinks lal is hopeless

[Lalouie]

My dream is undermanned Warriors win another chip and further solidifys Curry as the Russell to LeBron Wilt.

Plus puts more of an asterisk on LeBrons Covid title

there's so many asterisks on the covid ring it's weighted down at the bottom of the marianna trench

[nzahir]

My dream is undermanned Warriors win another chip and further solidifys Curry as the Russell to LeBron Wilt.

Plus puts more of an asterisk on LeBrons Covid title

Curry's efficiency and numbers (vs his peak years, so dont look at his first few years of the reg season) go down in the playoffs.

Lebron elevates in the playoffs

Russell had 5 mvps to Wilt's 4 and Russell's numbers didn't collapse in the playoffs like Wilt's did

Theres nothing Curry can do, hes an all time great, hes in that top 8-12 range, but hes just not a top 5 contender

You don't get there with 1 fmvp when theres guys with 3-6 fmvps

[meatwad4343]

As a Lebron fan it's frustrating seeing that he basically gave up on his legacy now. This will be a garbage play-in team.

They won't make the play in even

[Warriorfan]

My dream is undermanned Warriors win another chip and further solidifys Curry as the Russell to LeBron Wilt.

Plus puts more of an asterisk on LeBrons Covid title

Curry's efficiency and numbers (vs his peak years, so dont look at his first few years of the reg season) go down in the playoffs.

Lebron elevates in the playoffs

Russell had 5 mvps to Wilt's 4 and Russell's numbers didn't collapse in the playoffs like Wilt's did

Theres nothing Curry can do, hes an all time great, hes in that top 8-12 range, but hes just not a top 5 contender

You don't get there with 1 fmvp when theres guys with 3-6 fmvps

The comparison is championships vs stats.
Lebron has the stats but a worse championship record despite playing with at least 2 HOF players in all except 1 series.

Russell vs Wilt in history do you really remember the 2nd place finisher.

Plus this is the 3ball Era that doesn't sound like Lebron

[nzahir]

My dream is undermanned Warriors win another chip and further solidifys Curry as the Russell to LeBron Wilt.

Plus puts more of an asterisk on LeBrons Covid title

Curry's efficiency and numbers (vs his peak years, so dont look at his first few years of the reg season) go down in the playoffs.

Lebron elevates in the playoffs

Russell had 5 mvps to Wilt's 4 and Russell's numbers didn't collapse in the playoffs like Wilt's did

Theres nothing Curry can do, hes an all time great, hes in that top 8-12 range, but hes just not a top 5 contender

You don't get there with 1 fmvp when theres guys with 3-6 fmvps

The comparison is championships vs stats.
Lebron has the stats but a worse championship record despite playing with at least 2 HOF players in all except 1 series.

Russell vs Wilt in history do you really remember the 2nd place finisher.

Plus thus us the 3ball Era that doesnt sound like Lebron

Everyone knows Wilt....what are you talking about

Also a huge difference between 11 and 2 rings

5 vs 4 isnt a big difference

But 4 fmvps to 1 is a big difference

Lebron has the stats and the rings

Playing with an aging Wade who averaged under 15 ppg in the finals (and cant shoot 3s or coldnt defend Green or Mills) is a lot different than playing with a prime KD who is an all time shooter

And I think the number 1 scorer of all time will be remembered b/c I don't see anyone breaking that record

Curry shouldn't have ever cried for KD to have come save him. Would have let him get a chance to win some fmvps

[Milenkovic]

Duncan's last contract with the Spurs was 2 years 10mln, what a difference in attitude between the two.

[Warriorfan]

Curry's efficiency and numbers (vs his peak years, so dont look at his first few years of the reg season) go down in the playoffs.

Lebron elevates in the playoffs

Russell had 5 mvps to Wilt's 4 and Russell's numbers didn't collapse in the playoffs like Wilt's did

Theres nothing Curry can do, hes an all time great, hes in that top 8-12 range, but hes just not a top 5 contender

You don't get there with 1 fmvp when theres guys with 3-6 fmvps

The comparison is championships vs stats.
Lebron has the stats but a worse championship record despite playing with at least 2 HOF players in all except 1 series.

Russell vs Wilt in history do you really remember the 2nd place finisher.

Plus thus us the 3ball Era that doesnt sound like Lebron

Everyone knows Wilt....what are you talking about

Also a huge difference between 11 and 2 rings

5 vs 4 isnt a big difference

But 4 fmvps to 1 is a big difference

Lebron has the stats and the rings

Playing with an aging Wade who averaged under 15 ppg in the finals (and cant shoot 3s or coldnt defend Green or Mills) is a lot different than playing with a prime KD who is an all time shooter

And I think the number 1 scorer of all time will be remembered b/c I don't see anyone breaking that record

Curry shouldn't have ever cried for KD to have come save him. Would have let him get a chance to win some fmvps

How many basketball eras are defined by players with losing records in finals.

Lebron had lost more finals than ant player last 50yrs.

You seem to have recency bias.

Sidekicks to Curry championships in Thompson and Green are far lower than LeBron support players.

[nzahir]

The comparison is championships vs stats.
Lebron has the stats but a worse championship record despite playing with at least 2 HOF players in all except 1 series.

Russell vs Wilt in history do you really remember the 2nd place finisher.

Plus thus us the 3ball Era that doesnt sound like Lebron

Everyone knows Wilt....what are you talking about

Also a huge difference between 11 and 2 rings

5 vs 4 isnt a big difference

But 4 fmvps to 1 is a big difference

Lebron has the stats and the rings

Playing with an aging Wade who averaged under 15 ppg in the finals (and cant shoot 3s or coldnt defend Green or Mills) is a lot different than playing with a prime KD who is an all time shooter

And I think the number 1 scorer of all time will be remembered b/c I don't see anyone breaking that record

Curry shouldn't have ever cried for KD to have come save him. Would have let him get a chance to win some fmvps

How many basketball eras are defined by players with losing records in finals.

Lebron had lost more finals than ant player last 50yrs.

You seem to have recency bias.

Sidekicks to Curry championships in Thompson and Green are far lower than LeBron support players.

Can you share me some list of people who are respected who think Curry>Lebron all time?

When Curry has a few fmvps we can talk, but till then, the convo is dead

To enter the top 5 club you need at least 2 fmvps

MJ-6
Bron-4
Shaq-3
Magic-3
Duncan-3

Kareem and Bird only have 2 and Kareem missed out on one in 1980 due to getting hurt and Bird underperformed in 1981 even though being their #1 guy (similar to Curry in 2015)

[og15]

The comparison is championships vs stats.
Lebron has the stats but a worse championship record despite playing with at least 2 HOF players in all except 1 series.

Russell vs Wilt in history do you really remember the 2nd place finisher.

Plus thus us the 3ball Era that doesnt sound like Lebron

Everyone knows Wilt....what are you talking about

Also a huge difference between 11 and 2 rings

5 vs 4 isnt a big difference

But 4 fmvps to 1 is a big difference

Lebron has the stats and the rings

Playing with an aging Wade who averaged under 15 ppg in the finals (and cant shoot 3s or coldnt defend Green or Mills) is a lot different than playing with a prime KD who is an all time shooter

And I think the number 1 scorer of all time will be remembered b/c I don't see anyone breaking that record

Curry shouldn't have ever cried for KD to have come save him. Would have let him get a chance to win some fmvps

How many basketball eras are defined by players with losing records in finals.

Lebron had lost more finals than ant player last 50yrs.

You seem to have recency bias.

Sidekicks to Curry championships in Thompson and Green are far lower than LeBron support players.

Lebron went to a good amount of finals that his team were overly outmatched in. I'm assuming people are logical reasoning adults and are therefore simply being disingenuous with this stuff.

Let's actually add context and logic to this stuff and not discuss like we are not reasoning adults. The 2007 Cavs should not have been in the finals, the Pistons simply did not do their job. The 2015 Cavs with injuries to Love and Kyrie had no chance, unless maybe you're really high in Mozgov (yea right) . The 2018 Cavs, come on lol, that team should not have been a finals team, and going against the Warriors with Curry and Durant, it wasn't even a competition.

It's not Lebron's fault that East teams that should have been better couldn't stop his teams.

Lebron is 4-6 in the finals but has 3 finals where its clear they were not even on the same level of a team as the competition due to different reasons. There's really not much going on there.

If you want to argue that his teams should have done better in the other 7 (eg: not lose to Dallas), that's fine, but saying a player should be criticized for his team over achieving to get to the finals because they now get a final loss is one of the funniest things that NBA fans propose.

[Warriorfan]

Everyone knows Wilt....what are you talking about

Also a huge difference between 11 and 2 rings

5 vs 4 isnt a big difference

But 4 fmvps to 1 is a big difference

Lebron has the stats and the rings

Playing with an aging Wade who averaged under 15 ppg in the finals (and cant shoot 3s or coldnt defend Green or Mills) is a lot different than playing with a prime KD who is an all time shooter

And I think the number 1 scorer of all time will be remembered b/c I don't see anyone breaking that record

Curry shouldn't have ever cried for KD to have come save him. Would have let him get a chance to win some fmvps

How many basketball eras are defined by players with losing records in finals.

Lebron had lost more finals than ant player last 50yrs.

You seem to have recency bias.

Sidekicks to Curry championships in Thompson and Green are far lower than LeBron support players.

Lebron went to a good amount of finals that his team were overly outmatched in. I'm assuming people are logical reasoning adults and are therefore simply being disingenuous with this stuff.

Let's actually add context and logic to this stuff and not discuss like we are not reasoning adults. The 2007 Cavs should not have been in the finals, the Pistons simply did not do their job. The 2015 Cavs with injuries to Love and Kyrie had no chance, unless maybe you're really high in Mozgov (yea right) . The 2018 Cavs, come on lol, that team should not have been a finals team, and going against the Warriors with Curry and Durant, it wasn't even a competition.

It's not Lebron's fault that East teams that should have been better couldn't stop his teams.

Lebron is 4-6 in the finals but has 3 finals where its clear they were not even on the same level of a team as the competition due to different reasons. There's really not much going on there.

If you want to argue that his teams should have done better in the other 7 (eg: not lose to Dallas), that's fine, but saying a player should be criticized for his team over achieving to get to the finals because they now get a final loss is one of the funniest things that NBA fans propose.

Highly subjective post.

Logic would dictate if you are the 1st or 2nd best player in the history of basketball you can carry a team especially if you have at least 2 other HOF players.

Subjective nuance is Lebron played in what was generally the weaker conference so easier path to finals.

Logic also could dictate if you can beat the winningist regular season team in history you can beat any team but his teams for most part do not.

Lebron is one of the most if not the most influential players in team building in history so should take greater fault for the losses

Many subjective opinions but fact is most Finals losses in modern basketball history.

Lebron Best player of his era but is it his especially when it can be defined by the 3

Wilt statistically dominated his era but it belongs to the Celtics.

[Camby_Bamby]

My dream is undermanned Warriors win another chip and further solidifys Curry as the Russell to LeBron Wilt.

Plus puts more of an asterisk on LeBrons Covid title

Curry's career, even though it will be shorter, is more impressive than Bron's. Built his teams more organically, only recruited one star, created an environment for all his teammates to thrive, 4 rings, has had sevral career threatening injuries, and has gone through multiple rebuilds. He's about to be 37 next year, with zero media coverage about his age, and due to his game and play style, he'll probably get his team into the playoffs.

100% Steph's era.

[jpengland]

At least he will draw some attention to the play in tournament