Former lottery pick blames Lakers’ LeBron James for ruining the league

Do any players in the world of sport hold more power than in the NBA? Look no further than how the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Anthony Davis.

The eight-time All-Star essentially refused to stop playing for the Pelicans. Despite New Orleans’ best efforts to pushback on Davis’ demands, they ultimately caved for Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and three first-round picks.

A pretty solid return by all accounts, but in a perfect world the Pelicans would’ve kept their homegrown superstar and continued building around him. That’s just one of a laundry list of examples that highlight the player empowerment movement that’s engulfed the NBA in recent years.

It’s tough to say where (or when) exactly this movement started, but former lottery pick Brandon Jennings believes LeBron James is to blame.

In a lengthy rant on Twitter, the former NBA veteran mentioned LeBron and Chris Paul as the culprits who made the NBA a players league.

Brandon Jennings thinks Lakers star LeBron James laid the groundwork for the NBA becoming a players league.

Jennings’ rant was admittedly all over the place. He later clarified that James and Paul aren’t totally to blame for the NBA’s predicament, which was a smart move because James and Paul have certainly earned the right to dictate where they play and who they share the court with.

It seems like Jennings’ anger is more directed towards the league itself and players who take the game for granted — your Kyrie Irving’s, James Harden’s and Ben Simmons’ off the world — than James and Paul.

If that’s the case, then Jennings’ argument is valid.

Seeking a trade out of Houston, Harden famously showed up to camp overweight and gave lackluster effort before the Rockets caved and shipped him to Brooklyn. Irving’s love for basketball will be questioned until he retires as his personal beliefs always seem to take priority over playing games.

Simmons’ comments on mental health drew the ire of some media members, but no one looks back fondly on his final season in Philadelphia or after he was traded to the Nets and didn’t play in the playoffs due to a back injury.

If you want to blame James for igniting the “super-team” era, be our guest, but we’re not holding his hunger to win championships against him. If anything, he was the first player to realize you need at least two stars to win in the modern NBA. It’s an imperfect formula (Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are prime examples in that regard) but effective if executed the right way (like James and Davis joining forces).

Furthermore, James has frequently used his platform to campaign for what’s best for the players.

We’re not entirely sure what tree Jennings was barking up with these tweets, but LeBron certainly hasn’t done anything to hurt the NBA.

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