I know I talk a lot of shit about Lebron James, but that's how it is when you're the face of the NBA. Back when Jordan was playing live, it was all awe because he's older than me. But Lebron is younger and came at a time when I was an established NBA TV vet. And whereas I may not be particularly fond of how he treats teammates, I respect Lebron for coming into the league with the burden of being the next MJ on his shoulders and actually living up to expectations, you know, along with the help of the NBA type shit, just like his predecessor.
Kobe didn't come into the league with those types of expectations. He was hella famous, but no one is going to pick the player they truly believe to be the next Jordan all the way down at number 13.
Lebron was different. He was a unanimous number 1 pick who everyone was expecting, even before he ever became a professional, to lead a team to a championship. And of course he did get there. He had to form superteams to do it, but still, goal accomplished.
The NBA is a lot harder than it looks. It isn't like you have just eight teams anymore, where one can dominate year after year after year. Now, there's deadass 30 teams and like hundreds of new, fresh dudes coming into the league every year. So even if you can legitimately dominate for a while, like the Warriors did some years ago, it can't last forever, especially not these days. You're either going have a key player who leaves or get injured or, no matter how skillful you may be, there's going to be some younger team that's just faster and has your number. That's why you need to be a star, because like a good movie, the star always emerges victorious at the end of the day.
Or, let me put it like this. Say you go to watch a Tom Cruise film. If he dies during the first 30 minutes, you're probably going to get frustrated and walk out. I mean think about it. You're paying ot see Keanu Reeves or Jackie Chan in action; it's their face on the poster, but when the movie is reaching its climax, the character is nowhere to be found. Like who wants to see that shit? (Unless, of course, you're Bruce Willis.) And that, my friend, is what you call star power. The person who's actually writing the script wants you to succeed, even when the odds are against you.
So it doesn't surprise me that the Lakers look like they're going to make the playoffs. These guys sucked all year but now, at the time they needed it most, are getting their shit together, and AD is finally like playing every game. That's the official narrative. The NBA Inception understanding is that, who wants to see the playoffs without Lebron anyway? Him breaking Kareem's record is the sports story of the year. So now you can't be like oh, the Lakers can't get their shit together, so no Lebron for the playoffs. And then the scary thing about it is that, just like Ethan Hunt and his team when they really put their minds together, LAL, i.e. Lebron + AD, really can fukaround and win it all if they like play the right way (and the role players do their thing).
Then there's Bronny James. Look, I have nothing but respect for dude. In the whole entire history of the NBA only one superstar, Rick Barry, had a child(ren) who went on to become respected vets. No other NBA player who children accomplished that, not even Arvydas Sabonis, were superstars when they were playing. And Jordan's sons never even really got close to the NBA.
But that's what dads are for. I can't say I ever remember there being a controversy about McDonald's All-American Game participants. But then again, it's not often you have the son of a superstar playing. None of Rick Barry's sons, who actually made it to the NBA, played. And when you can influence McDonald's, that's some real starpower shit.
And that's the point I was trying to make in comparing Lebron to MJ earlier. Jordan was the biggest sports star in the world around the time LBJ game into the NBA. Before that we had Dr. J and Kareem and Magic in them, but his popularity dwarfed them all. So now, everybody knew how profitable being the face of the NBA can be. Jordan had sneakers and videogames and endorsements and all types of shit going on. So now, Lebron knew what he was looking forward to.
But what Jordan, and those around him, did lack though was knowledge of how to weld power all that power. It's sorta like you can be the greatest in the world, but still can't comprehend how powerful you can be, because you don't have someone else's experiences to build on. That's why the Bulls were able to do all that dumb shit like breakup the team even though they were winning championship and had the greatest athlete of the generation on their roster. They were out prove an outdated point, that no player is more powerful than the organization itself.
But after watching what Jordan went through, the next superstar, as well as NBA teams, knew what time it was. And that's why now we have "GM Lebron" and shit like that. I can't say I ever heard of Jordan like forcing the Bulls to acquire or get rid of a player. Meanwhile, whenever any team Lebron is on makes a major move, the public believes he's directly involved, even if he isn't.
CONCLUSION
And I can see how now, there's sort of this void that rationalizes keeping LBJ around, into perpetuity type shit. Kobe may not have been a Jordan per se, but the major goal he did accomplish was giving the NBA a face in between the retirement of MJ and the rise of Lebron. Bryant may even be more popular than LBJ to this day. But if James were to retire right now, who's the face of the NBA? Curry may not be around much longer himself, and Morant's image is currently in the doghouse. Meanwhile Luka, who's not only talented but also has a more-marketable face than any superstar, first of all is stuck on a franchise that doesn't know what WTF they're doing and secondly doesn't really seem to be on it like that.
So all of this is my fancy way of saying, Lebron deserves it. Say you want about the powers-that-be cheating for the Dubs, but don't say that shit about LAL because, Lebron. It'll be shameful if the Lakers unfairly make the playoffs as the expense of some less-popular team, but that depends on how you define 'unfair', because we, the fans, matter also. Or ask yourself this. Like would you even know the McDonald's All-American Game just passed if Bronny James wasn't in it?
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