THE LEBRON JAMES DILEMMA

THE BEST VERSION OF LEBRON IMO | CREDIT: NBA

I have said this either on my blog or while I'm six beers in, debating with my friends.

In terms of careers, you can't beat LeBron James.

I mean, LBJ started his career when he was just 18, won a bunch of MVPs and championships over a span of more than two decades, and who else can say that he threw an alley-oop to his son in an actual pro game?

That's LeBron for you.

He's about to turn 42 years old, and he's still in his element.

Yes, I consider Michael Jordan my greatest of all time, but in terms of awards, records, championships, medals, and the fact that MJ had to miss several seasons because of retirement, you can say that LeBron James is the optimal model for a professional career.

That said, he has also done a lot of overdramatic things. I know he's supposed to have these moments given his stature, but after "The Decision," when he left Cleveland for Miami, he has been annoying whenever it comes to his next destination. James has broken a lot of records, but he also changed the landscape of the league, from superstars jumping from team to team, to the overblown idea of superteams, to the notion that a player can hold a team's future hostage because his demands weren't met.

This time is no different, with LeBron James telling the world that he's done with the Los Angeles Lakers and is looking for a new home to perhaps write the final chapter of his storied career.

However, it feels like his departure from the Lakers isn't as extravagant as his previous exits.

This time, it feels like he was forced out.

It's insane that the Lakers actually had LeBron for eight seasons, and I guess the reason why he left the squad is that, after everything the organization did to please him, the Lakers were left with crappy pieces.

In some ways, I can't really blame this entirely on LeBron because the Miami Heat gave him the pieces but still kept him on a leash. Remember when he tried to get rid of Erik Spoelstra?

Unfortunately, the rest of the league doesn't have a Pat Riley as team president, and this is why we've seen coaches lose their jobs, players lose their luster, and LeBron carry the responsibility of taking his teams to the top despite how problematic their cores were.

But while he did take the Lakers to the top, it felt like his time with the team kind of dampened his legacy.

This is his problem.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE

The last time he won a championship was in 2020, and the last time he made the All-NBA First Team was also in 2020. However, the last time he won an MVP award was in 2013, when he was still with Miami. Look, I know that was 13 years ago, but at that time, he was only 29 years old.

When he returned to Cleveland, he did it to fulfill a promise. When he went to the Lakers in 2018, it was to be part of a rich basketball culture in a major market. However, he used the same strategy he had with most of his teams, and this time it didn't bring him the same success.

CAREER KILLER

When he formed his first superteam, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were willing participants. However, when he tried the same thing in Cleveland, Kyrie Irving eventually left because he never wanted to be LeBron's sidekick. Yes, Kyrie benefited from LeBron because he won a championship early in his career, but his game couldn't fully mature with LeBron in the picture. Irving currently has one All-NBA Second Team selection and two All-NBA Third Team selections, all of which came after he left Cleveland.

Yes, there's an argument that his game could have developed even further had he stayed in Cleveland than what he's currently doing now as a virtual playoff-seeking nomad. But then again, we might have also seen his game plateau.

I mean, let's face it, Bosh may have won two championships, but he finished his career with just one All-NBA Second Team selection. The same can be said for Kevin Love. K-Love won a championship in 2016, but he never made another All-NBA Team after 2014, when he was still a double-double magnet with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Through the years, he has had a lot of All-Star teammates, and almost all of them lost their superstar status the moment they played with him. Anthony Davis won a title with LeBron in 2020, and while he earned an All-NBA First Team selection that same year and an All-NBA Second Team selection in 2024, Los Angeles never really had a true Big Three during that period.

SCAPEGOAT

There are two sides to LeBron's negative vortex. The first is forming a trio, as he did in Miami and Cleveland, to become an unstoppable force.

The second is calling upon free agents to latch onto his awesomeness.

Through the years, we've seen that happen. Whether it was Dwyane Wade in Cleveland or Russell Westbrook, Dwight Howard, and Carmelo Anthony in Los Angeles, he could turn his superstar teammates into either scapegoats or shells of their former selves.

The thing is, at first, players are happy to be on his team. There was talk that LeBron would stay close to players he wanted to bring into his fold, whether during All-Star Weekend or while playing for the U.S. national team.

However, when he was with the Lakers, that wasn't always the case. Remember when people thought Kawhi Leonard was going to the Lakers, only for him to choose the Clippers instead? How about the aftermath of the Russell Westbrook experiment?

Then the Lakers became so undesirable that their only major signing in 2025 was DeAndre Ayton.

Do you think Austin Reaves, an undrafted player, would have gotten his break if there had been a third star on the Lakers that LeBron wanted?

THEIR OWNER ALSO OWNS THE DODGERS

Unfortunately, this is one of the reasons why I think LeBron James had to go. The Lakers are now owned by billionaire businessman Mark Walter, who also owns the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers are currently Major League Baseball's most dominant team, featuring the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Blake Snell, Will Smith, Max Muncy, Andy Pages, and others. This team wins championships while generating merchandise sales, advertising revenue, and lucrative sponsorship deals because players want to play for them, and fans from all over want to watch them.

I mean, Ohtani is their version of Michael Jordan. Notice I said Michael Jordan.

Because here's the thing. LeBron's reputation made the Lakers an undesirable destination for free agents. And while yes, LeBron led the Lakers to the Western Conference Semifinals this season, he did so with Luka Dončić out and Austin Reaves going in and out of the lineup because of injuries.

When the Oklahoma City Thunder swept the Lakers, LeBron had Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, DeAndre Ayton, and Luke Kennard playing heavy minutes. Meanwhile, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins barely saw any playoff action because OKC was simply stacked with talent.

Because of all the trades, the Lakers lost a potential young core and had to rely on veterans whose jerseys probably wouldn't sell, even if they were discounted.

WHERE NEXT?

And now that LeBron James has decided to look for another destination, other free agents may wait for him to sign first. As for established teams, they may want to think things through before making a move, even if he has said that, this time, money is no object.

If you look at everything LeBron has done with the Lakers, there's a chance he could bring the same approach to his next team. He might walk into an already stable situation and disrupt it from the inside. Or better yet, he could mortgage a franchise's future by asking for another All-Star to complete his superteam core, forcing the team to give up draft picks and pick swaps through 2035.

He can go as far as influencing a coaching change and even having a say in roster transactions. This is the other side of acquiring a player like LeBron James.

That said, they would also have the chance to sign a generational talent. I mean, who else can still play at this level in his 40s? The dude can still ball, and while his defense has been suspect since his mid-to-late 30s, it's not like he can't outperform at least 70 percent of the players in the league.

His influence alone can boost jersey sales, ticket sales, and advertising revenue. Sure, at the start of his tenure with a new team, the media buzz is going to skyrocket, ultimately giving a franchise that barely gets ESPN attention exposure to a global audience.

That's what a team gets with LeBron James: a generational talent who thinks like a general manager because he wants his legacy to rise above the other legends.

That said, he needs to be in an environment where he can be controlled.

Again, not every NBA general manager has a Pat Riley.

Hmmm...