'Snaking' through the pressure
With the recent struggle of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the spotlight has not been on the team's struggle but rather on the franchises star player. All the talk isn't about what LeBron James is going to do to help the team but rather what is he going to do to help another team. Recently rumors have speculated that LeBron James is willing to give the Golden State Warriors front office time to discuss a max deal to join the Warriors. This would be worse than his first decision to leave and also make him a bigger snake than Kevin Durant.
LeBron has recently shot down these rumors calling them "nonsense," and he has kept his lips tight on any plans to move for Summer 2018. Although why pick the Warriors if he did. We are use to seeing LeBron portray himself as David Patrick Kelly from the 1979 film "The Warriors" when it comes to the Warriors. He would rather beat them than join them.
Well, at least the sports nation would expect. This would not be the first time LeBron would go ring chasing. In 2010, LeBron through his highly criticized TV special on ESPN "The Decision" announced his departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers to join his best friend Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat. This sparked a huge conversation within the sports world. This also sparked a trend for other NBA superstars.
Soon after LeBron would leave the Cleveland Cavaliers after failing to capture an NBA title and join the Miami Heat to win "not one, not two, not three" actually not even three but only two NBA Titles. Other NBA superstars would follow in his footsteps. This is different from what sports fans are use to seeing. Before LeBron James would join the NBA different NBA superstars grinded to get one championship while playing for just one team all of their career. Or either jumped ship to join the Los Angeles Lakers to end their career hoping LA would bring them a championship.
In today's NBA, however, a superstar will play 5-7 seasons of coming close to playing in the NBA Finals or not getting past the first or second round of the playoffs before they decide to join a team with another group of superstars. We have seen this in LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Ray Allen, Chris Webber, Shaquille O'Neal even Robert Parish and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The difference in today's NBA though is players join forces with other dominant players to ensure they will see the confetti fall and champagne shower in their favor. The only takes away from these different players legacies though. Unless LeBron James can win multiple championships right now until the time he retires. He will be in the conversation as one of the greatest to ever play the game, but he will never be better than Michael Jordan, Bill Russel, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or any other NBA player who is assumed the greatest of all time. The same goes for the rest of the NBA superstars who join teams with other dominant forces. This may be the new trend for the NBA but it does not save any superstar a spot as the greatest to play the game of basketball. If you can't beat them don't join them!
