Why don't NBA Stars want to play with LeBron James?
LeBron James agreed to a four-year, $153.3 million deal with Lakers this off-season. With his first trip to the West, it was clear that LeBron was looking for a new challenge going into the 16th season of his career.
Lakers instantly transfigured from a team that everybody loved making fun of for not making the playoffs, to a relevant franchise hoping to dethrone the Warriors. But this change of belief came with an obvious assumption:
LeBron is definitely not the only superstar the Lakers are going to acquire! He's going to team with the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Jimmy Buttler, Klay Thompson or Anthony Davis! Why else would LeBron come to the Lakers if he wasn't sure about other All-Stars joining him? Surely the Lakers are going to acquire more superstars!
As exciting as it sounds, there are chances that LeBron James is turning into an aging basketball legend (or too great a player) that nobody wants to team up with. It may sound ridiculous at first, but LeBron James joining the Lakers has created a referendum on how much other superstars are willing to play with him.
Let's start with Paul George. He opted to stay in OKC and play alongside Russel Westbrook instead of teaming with the LeBron in LA. Why? Maybe George didn't want the pressure of being LeBron's co-star in a team like the Los Angeles Lakers.
It was too intimidating because everybody knows what happens to LeBron's teammates when the team isn't winning games. They get thrown under the bus - "LeBron has no help!" "His teammates are trash!", are common terminologies that start coming up. Just ask Kevin Love.
Paul George who comes from California said it was his dream to play for the Lakers as a kid. Yet, when he had the chance, he decided to stay with the Thunder even though he ended up making lesser money, only because he didn't want to be LeBrons' number two.
Next up, Jimmy Buttler. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN - "Butler had once imagined playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, but LeBron James' arrival as the franchise's cornerstone made it less appealing for Butler in the prime of his career, league sources said."
Butler who's at the peak of his career wants to be the alpha dog wherever he goes. He's an elite two-way player who doesn't want to be in LeBron's shadow. Los Angeles Clippers are now the frontrunners to sign Jimmy Buttler next summer along with Kawhi Leonard.
Appearing on the Back to Back podcast on the Count The Dings Network on Thursday, ESPN.com's Michael C. Wright had a few words about the Klaw.
"The Lakers are not Kawhi's preferred destination anymore. He wants to go to the Clippers. Because he doesn't want to go and be second fiddle to LeBron. That's what I was told. I was told by somebody that would know. So right now the Clippers are where he wants to go"
According to these reports, Kawhi Leonard - who completely outplayed LeBron James in the 2014 Finals between the Spurs and the Heat, wants to play at the Staples Center but not as a sidekick to LeBron for the Lakers. Leonard, when he's fit, is widely regarded to be at par with LeBron.
Kyrie Irving even threatened a knee surgery to force an exit from the Cavaliers. Kevin Love has said that there were "dark times" as he reflected on playing with LeBron James. Whether you like to admit it or not, the myth that every NBA superstar wants to play with LeBron is getting busted.
LeBron James is the best basketball player in the world today. But when other superstars in the league would rather play for the Clippers instead of teaming up with you for the Lakers, it obviously raises a lot of eyebrows.
If LeBron was the darling of the NBA - like the pro-LeBron media want us to believe, NBA superstars would be in line to play alongside him. But they're not. LeBron has made the Finals for eight times in a row. That's the minimum automatic expectation from a team when he plays for them.
Is the burden of this expectation too much for the stars to handle? Or is it the fact that his teammates are always criticized too harshly when his team loses, but when they win, LeBron James walks away with all the credit? Is it because LeBron James has a history of being passive-aggressive towards his teammates and posting cryptic tweets? Or dare I say, LeBron, playing in his 16th season is not the player that is going to guarantee you a Championship?
