Los Angeles Lakers: How come nobody wants to play with LeBron James
By Ronald Agers
The Los Angeles Lakers landed LeBron James, but now players are shying away from playing with him. Why don’t players want to join LeBron?
Prior to media day, Los Angeles Lakers headlines and news around the NBA was slowing down. Thank God for Jimmy Butler! Things was getting a little bit dull around the NBA front. It was getting to the point that EVERYBODY was waiting on media day, just to have something to write about.
With Jimmy Butler wanting to get traded and the Los Angeles Lakers not being on his list of destinations, it sent a subliminal message…I don’t want to play with LeBron James!
Notice the key word here…subliminal. There were even rumors floating around about it.
Jimmy Butler listed his preferred destinations courtesy of Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN…
Minnesota's Jimmy Butler has three preferred destinations for a trade, league sources tell ESPN: The Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks. Those three teams have max cap space to sign Butler as a free agent in July.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 19, 2018
I’m still tripping about Brooklyn being on this list. I don’t care how much the Nets are paying, Brooklyn is nowhere close to contending, much less making a run for a championship.
Jimmy Butler is on record stating that he would rather play for an NBA doormat with no chance of sniffing the playoffs than for a team that has cap space in 2019 to give him a nice payday, have a nice playoff run and plays with LeBron James.
Let’s go back to Adrian Wojnarowski’s take courtesy of ESPN…
"“[Butler] is enamored with the idea of playing a central role in a big market, sources said. 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.”"
There is starting to be a trend here. It seems that Jimmy Butler is getting in the line of All-Stars that are not tripping over themselves to come to L.A. and team with LeBron James.
Are we missing something here? Isn’t this the same LeBron James that has been to eight straight NBA Finals? Isn’t this the same LeBron James that sits at the top of Sports Illustrated’s top 100 list? Isn’t this the same LeBron James that has the phrase…”Best player in the world” attached to almost every sentence? I could go on and on, but we need to take a look at this.
Lake Show Life has already dealt with the fact that it is not an easy process playing with James over history…
But it seems to be deeper than that. Let’s take a look at the All-Stars who have all of a sudden caught a case of the LeBron-itis.
Let’s start at the beginning here. Irving is as good as anyone else considering that Jimmy Butler has reportedly shown his desire to team up with him in New York. They have been linked to both franchises, Brooklyn and New York.
If they did team up (I really don’t see Kyrie leaving Boston, but I’ve been wrong before, I could be wrong again) they both would bring excitement and credibility to either franchise. Plus there would be no doubt on who brought on the resurrection of either dormant franchise in New York. If they did anything to get the Knicks to the playoffs, they would have months named after them.
But did Kyrie Irving start the trend here? Not to undermine LeBron James’ contribution by bringing a title to Cleveland, but if I remember it was Kyrie Irving that knocked down the game-winning shot in Game 7 of the NBA Finals over the 73-9 Golden State Warriors. Plus, the play was called for him and he delivered over the then two-time MVP Stephen Curry.
But Kyrie Irving felt “marginalized” by James’ role as the primary ball handler and being the face of the franchise.
Then there is this…here’s an excerpt from ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan…
"…In mid June, shortly before [David] Griffin left, team and league sources confirm, the Cavs explored a three-way deal with Phoenix and Indiana that would have shipped Irving and Frye to the Suns and brought Eric Bledsoe and Paul George to Cleveland. The Suns resisted, unwilling to part with their No.4 pick, which they planned to use to draft Josh Jackson.No formal offer was made by any of the teams, but news of this potential transaction stung Irving who, sources close to him say, became convinced that LeBron’s camp, which also represents Bledsoe, orchestrated the trade talks…"
NOW! Let’s see here. Irving is an NBA champion, gold medalist and the single reason that the Cavs won one game in the NBA Finals against the Warriors the last two NBA Finals. Without him this past year, the Cavs got run out in a sweep.
More from Lake Show Life
- Darvin Ham adds to Max Christie hype train after Lakers preseason opener
- Is LeBron James playing tonight? Latest Lakers vs Warriors update
- Can Darvin Ham put all of the Lakers puzzle pieces together?
- Lakers news: Darvin Ham knows his fifth starter, LeBron James and Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino praise
- Michael Malone’s painfully ironic comment has Lakers fans heated
Doesn’t matter if LeBron James had anything to do with the trade exploration or not…if Irving became convinced, the damage is done. Furthermore, LeBron James had more juice than Minute Maid in Cleveland. If he wanted Irving in Cleveland…Irving would still be there. If you don’t believe that there are a collection of statues in front of the Staples Center I can sell you. Take one and name a price.
What message does that send to established All-Stars? If Kyrie Irving wants out of Cleveland so bad despite the fact that the Cavs could have easily could have made another Finals run. Is what Jackie MacMullan laid out in the article true? What is really going on behind the scenes dealing with LeBron James in the locker room? The seed is planted and maybe the stars are turned off by it.
How about Kawhi Leonard?
Remember when the world thought Leonard wanted to go to Los Angeles? Everyone including the San Antonio Spurs assumed it was the Lakers. But then the Lakers signed LeBron James…
Let Shams Charania of then Yahoo! Sports, now The Athletic tell it.
"One thing that’s been made abundantly clear. I’m going to stress this. There’s no guarantee if Kawhi Leonard hits the market next summer that he’s going to sign with the Lakers, period. I think his options have broadened a little bit, just inside L.A. There’s another team, obviously, in L.A. I think he’d be very much open to the Clippers."
To be honest, the real question here is why do all the stars want to play across the hall with the Clippers? The Lakers are one of the most iconic franchises along with the Boston Celtics? Is this the reason?
"Around Kawhi, what’s been made abundantly clear is there’s not an interest to go join a super team. I don’t think he’s jumping for joy that LeBron James is in L.A. with the Lakers. If anything, that’s going to make him look maybe more toward the Clippers. Because this is a guy that won Finals MVP against LeBron James. You think he’s amped up and wants to join LeBron now? I think that’s been overstated, and the Spurs are beginning to realize that and beginning to realize that we might have a broadened market for him."
Paul George?
Look I have my opinions about Paul George and how he handled the situation after the fact…
But for the sake of argument here, let’s add his name to the mix. It was a foregone conclusion that Paul George was going to be a Laker, but he does a miraculous turn at 12:01 am and announces that he’s going to stay with the Thunder. Coincidence?
This argument and theory are not going away folks. The 2019 free agent pool is huge and names like Klay Thompson and Anthony Davis are starting to gain steam and will continue over the season.
For the record, this is not a LeBron James bash session. This might not be about James, it might be about these players that are turning their backs on the Lakers. If you take a closer look, LeBron James is the old man in the NBA even though he doesn’t play like it.
The Miami Heat situation years back consisted of players of his age group that came out of his draft class. Plus Dwyane Wade was already an established superstar in Miami and Chris Bosh came in from Toronto. When he left and went back to Cleveland, Kyrie Irving was the established superstar talent and Kevin Love was brought in from Minnesota in a trade. See the similarities?
One theory is these players are younger and are more interested in enhancing their brands and popularity to gather endorsements. Another is what I call the “Kyrie” effect of being marginalized. Playing with James means you are in a black hole vacuum when it comes to your role and how the credit for success and blame is doled out.
If the team wins…it’s because of LeBron James…
If the team loses…it’s your fault because James didn’t get enough help.
5 Reasons To Love The LeBron James Signing. dark. Next
This is a disconnect with the generation behind LeBron James that the Lakers will have to deal within the next three years.