LeBron James once made Dan Gilbert lose $40 million just because he wanted to win the NBA Championship
Despite leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a memorable come-back championship victory over the Golden State Warriors in 2016, LeBron James wanted more success.
As such, one of the greatest players of all time applied pressure on Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert to continue spending money in an attempt to propel the franchise to its second straight NBA Championship.
However, things didn't go according to plan. LeBron James and the Cavaliers fell short, making it two losses to the Golden State Warriors in the finals over a three-year span. Unfortunately for Gilbert, even with a deep playoff run on the books and the Cavaliers hosting 10 home games during the 2017 postseason, he reportedly lost $40 million, according to Forbes.
"Gilbert’s massive commitment to spend whatever’s necessary to win a title led to a loss of $40 million last season by Forbes’ count in the sense of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization," Kurt Badenhausen wrote in 2017.
"Their loss was nearly four times greater than any other franchise, despite the windfall from hosting 10 playoff games."
To make matters worse, the Cavaliers returned to the NBA Finals the following year, only to suffer the same fate, as the Warriors defeated them for the third time in four years. Following that loss, LeBron James decided to call time on his second stint with his hometown team and joined the LA Lakers in the offseason.
Snoop Dogg doesn't believe LeBron James is a top-5 Laker
During a recent appearance on The Pivot, Hip-Hop legend Snoop Dogg discussed who he considered the top-5 LA Lakers of all time. James was left of the list as Snoop said:
Snoop Dogg doesn’t believe LeBron James is a top 5 Laker of all time bit.ly/3PYhxpG
Via: @thepivot https://t.co/KWB3m55jGZ
“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — formerly known as Lou Alcindor until Malcolm got ahold of ’em. Magic ‘Earvin’ Johnson out of East Lansing. Do you understand me? Kobe ‘Jellybean’ Bryant. Oh lord, it’s finna get hard.
"Shaquille ‘The Real Deal’ O’Neal. I’ma go with Wilt The Stilt! He averaged 50 points a game, man. This before cameras — he probably had 70.”
He continued:
“It ain’t none of them new guys. They ain’t done enough.”
The LA Lakers struggled mightily to begin the 2022-23 season. It wasn't until Rob Pelinka made some changes at the Feb. 9 trade deadline that the Lakers began to make some noise in the Western Conference.
However, despite those changes, LeBron James and the Lakers fell short in their quest to win a championship after being swept by the Denver Nuggets in the conference finals
Now, all eyes will be on the Lakers again this summer as they try to rebuild their roster to get back to the NBA Finals next season in an attempt to help James add another championship ring to his legacy.