"When Michael Jordan tells the Bulls to bring in Dennis Rodman” - Jalen Rose criticizes LeBron James’ leadership, gives MJ's handling of Rodman’s off-court behavior as an example
Former NBA player Jalen Rose was critical of LeBron James for not leading the LA Lakers to the best of his abilities, despite being highly involved in their roster construction this season. The Lakers ended up falling out of playoff contention, and this season is now regarded as the franchise's worst campaign of all time by many.
Rose gave Michael Jordan's example when talking about James' leadership of the Lakers this year. Rose mentioned Jordan being responsible enough to handle a player like Dennis Rodman, who he asked the franchise to sign during his time with the Chicago Bulls.
Rodman went as far as missing practice without informing the team several times, and Jordan took it upon himself to speak to his former teammate and tune him in. Here's what Jalen Rose said regarding this on the latest episode of ESPN show Jalen & Jacoby:
"When Michael Jordan tells the Bulls to bring in Dennis Rodman, and he (Rodman) don't show up at practice cause' he hanging out with Carmen Electra and doing whatever Dennis Rodman does, you know who gotta go get him? MJ."
Rose continued:
"So let's make sure we acknowledge LeBron's role in putting together this team, not leading this team, and then we talk about them being bad on defense, him also struggling in that area."
LeBron James and LA Lakers suffer arguably the worst season for a team with championship aspirations.
When news broke that the LA Lakers had decided to acquire Russell Westbrook and form the NBA's newest big threes by pairing him alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, they were expected to be competing for the championship.
To improve their hopes of doing so, the Lakers also acquired the likes of Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo (later traded to the Cavaliers) and Carmelo Anthony to their roster. The Lakers headed into the season as the favorites to win the Western Conference, but nothing went according to plan from the get-go.
The Lakers, the oldest roster in the league, suffered on the defensive end of the floor, failing to match up with younger teams around the league, and the coaching staff failed to help Westbrook adapt to a new role alongside James and Davis.
They hovered around the.500 mark in the standings, barely looking like they will achieve homecourt advantage by the end of the season. As the campaign progressed, the LA Lakers kept losing their grip and injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis only made things worse for the side.
As a result, LA started to fall further below the .500 mark, and after the All-Star break, their losing record extended to more than ten games below the .500 mark in no time. The Lakers were in contention to at least achieve a ninth or tenth-place finish and secure a play-in tournament spot until two weeks back.
The LAKERS quit! https://t.co/TsLcCdUoc5
However, they suffered another blow with LeBron James suffering an ankle injury, which proved to be the final nail in the coffin for their miserable season. Their current losing streak extended to seven games, eventually ruling them out of postseason contention.
This will easily go down as the worst season in the history of the NBA for a team that was considered a favorite to win the title stacked with multiple future Hall of Famers like LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwight Howard on their roster.