“And we can argue who the best player has been in the NBA, but it’s hard to argue that anyone’s had a better career (than LeBron). The most amazing thing to me is this guy’s been a national figure since he was in eighth grade.” Recently, Stan Van Gundy spoke about in detail about the Lakers’ roster situation and the constant scrutiny around LeBron James. He picked up his $52.6 million player option to continue in his 23rd season, but that decision caught some flak from the fans. But the former Magic Head coach narrated why it isn’t a selfish move.
On the Nothing Personal with David Samson podcast, the new Amazon analyst explained the narrative surrounding King James. ” Yeah, listen, LeBron’s gotten a little hate for a long time for a lot of different things.” Van Gundy said that James is often scrutinized for various moments in his career. Whether it was ‘The Decision’ to come to Miami. Or whether it was bumping into Heat HC Erik Spoelstra in 2010. “LeBron’s gotten a lot of hate for a guy who has had the best career of any NBA player ever,” said the former TNT analyst.
Van Gundy also spoke, judging LeBron James’ signing the player option is not right. “Look, more power to him, I think he took the one year not only can he make a decision at the end of the year, but the Lakers can too. So I don’t think it was selfish at all, and he gets another year with his son, which I think was really really important to him, so I don’t think there was anything selfish about this.” But before the defense, he also detailed how LeBron’s best shot at a championship next season is not with the LA Lakers.
“Well, I’m in on that, it’s definitely not with the LA Lakers. But I don’t know where it would be or what deal would have to materialize. I expect him to be back in LA; I think they’re pretty good. I think it will certainly help them having a training camp and a full season with he and Luka Doncic together. But I still don’t think they have enough.” The Lakers’ adding pieces also directly depends on the Akron native’s decision.
Why is this an issue? Because of the pressure it puts on the Lakers’ ability to build the roster. The Purple and Gold franchise has already committed $176.210 million in salaries. This simply means that incurring any additional cost would lead to major fines, which will further affect their ability to make short-term changes.
LeBron James urged taking Tom Brady’s route in order to help the team
Previously, the 4x NBA champion took a $15 million pay cut back in 2010. It was when he joined the Miami Heat to form the Big3 along with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. That team had success, which would be an understatement. 4 back-to-back finals and two championships, plus a couple of MVPs, is what LeBron secured during that stint. That’s why a 61-year-old sports media personality wanted LeBron James to take another pay cut like Tom Brady and others.
Image Cradit: USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn
“So again, what is it? Are you about winning? Because I’ve seen Ohtani take pay cuts and Josh Allen and Tom Brady and Tim Duncan and Jalen Brunson. That’s about winning,” said Cowherd on The Herd with Colin Cowherd. “Tom did it for winning, he was the best quarterback in the world, and he kept taking pay cuts”.
Tom Brady also created a reputation for taking pay cuts, even if his teams won the Super Bowl. By February 2019, after he had played for 19 years, Brady had reportedly sacrificed at least $60 million-$100 million. With LeBron James being 1 of only 4 NBA athletes to have hit the billion mark in their lifetime, that’s why the pressure is on him to take the pay cut.
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