Tag: Lakers

Celtics Lose On a Buzzer Beater by Old Friend Rajon Rondo, But That Wasn’t the Worst Part

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Last night the Celtics blew an 18 point lead to LeBron and the Lakers and lost on a buzzer beater by our old friend Rajon Rondo. The Lakers were hotter than the sun as they set a franchise record for 3 pointers made.

LeBron was even using some sort of black magic while en route to another triple double he somehow converted a sloppy turnover down the stretch into a fadeaway three under pressure.

And then of course Rajon Rondo, whom I adore by the way, couldn’t hit a jump shot in 9 years in Boston yet corrals a loose ball and pulls up to hit a buzzer beater before I could even blink.

Unbelievable. Just look at Rondo’s shot chart over the course of his career, courtesy of our friends at NBAsavant.com.

Rondo is literally just as likely to hit a corner 3 as he is to hit that jumper at the elbow.

Whether its primetime games on ESPN and TNT or postseason games, Rajon Rondo morphs into Playoff Rondo every time the spotlight is on.

But that all paled in comparison to what we saw immediately after the game. My basketball nemesis LeBron James leaping for joy and hugging my man Rajon Rondo on the sacred Celtics hardwood.

That one hurt boys.

Anthony Davis NOT Traded Before Deadline. Lakers Now Salty as Celtics Are Very Much in Play.

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Good. I for one am tired of the Lakers just getting superstars in their prime simply because they want them. I have dealt with players not wanting to come to Boston for my entire life because its cold like 9 months out of the year. So for a team in the Pelicans to just flip the bird right in Magic and LeBron’s face brings me great joy.

And now the Lakers are saltyyy.

HAHAHA

You can literally hear LeBron’s voice coming through Windhorst’s face with this nonsense. For the Lakers Windhorst to act appalled that the Pelicans didn’t want to do business with the Lakers is hilarious. It’s a holier than thou take from a tampering franchise because as I said last week there is no more powerful motivator than spite and the Lakers Anthony Davis’ agent Rich Paul essentially planted a poison pill in the New Orleans locker room a week before the trade deadline after publicly requesting a trade and then leaking reports that Davis only wants to play in LA. If I’m the Pelicans I would 1000% do the same thing. I might even take a lesser deal if I had to purely out of spite rather than gift wrap another superstar in his prime to the Lakers.

Now as a Celtics fan we’ve heard all kinds of packages and proposals and potential deals. They all make me nauseous because I don’t want to trade Tatum and Smart and whoever the hell else gets thrown in. Buttt, I also didn’t want to trade Big Al Jefferson and look how that worked out for the Celtics.

Am I concerned with trading a boatload of assets for potentially one year of Anthony Davis? Absolutely. But I just cannot see how AD could come here and play alongside Kyrie (more on that in a second) and most likely go on a deep playoff run, if not win a title, and then say nah I still would rather go play on a bum ass Lakers team with a LeBron James that is closer to 40 years old than 30. Cannot see it.

What if Kyrie jets? Well thats your doomsday scenario right there. The Celtics trade a bundle of assets for Davis and Kyrie leaves anyways because then there is a zero percent chance Davis re-signs with Boston to be a part of that lottery team. You’d basically be left with the Time Lord who hopefully could send the team back in time to avoid the entire thing.

But, I also just cannot see Kyrie leaving. If he wants to be *the* guy, then thats what he has here. From all accounts he wants to play with Anthony Davis too, who is a megastar, yet is a pretty quiet, unassuming guy.

So that would be perfect for Irving; Kyrie would be the man even if he’s not technically the best player on the team. But if he truly wants to be the guy scoring 40 a game, the hands down best player on the team, surrounded by a bunch of deferential no names, then he can be 2006 Paul Pierce on a lottery team somewhere. I don’t think he wants that though. I think he wants to win, albeit his way, but Kyrie wants to win. If the C’s can get AD to pair with him then it locks this team into being a co-favorite to win the NBA title for the next several years. Plus, you would have to be a total sociopath to grab a microphone and announce to a crowd of people that you plan to re-sign with the team only to say PSYCH like 6 months later. I think Kyrie’s council of wise elders would advise him to stay in Boston.

I remain cautiously optimistic at the house of cards our lord and savior Danny Ainge has built.

Tampering LeBron Seems to Be Pissing Off Trade Partners, Knicks Shooting for the Moon With Porzingis Trade and Where Do the Celtics Stand?

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ESPN – New Orleans Pelicans general manager Dell Demps has yet to return a call from Lakers GM Rob Pelinka, league sources told ESPN. The sluggish response time is perhaps a message that New Orleans places some responsibility on the Lakers for Davis’ trade request…

Demps is picking up his phone and returning calls — just not from the Lakers, sources said. From Paul George to Leonard to Davis, the Lakers’ front office is growing accustomed to icy receptions from teams enduring All-Star trade demands with a full year left on their contracts.

What is usually a case of Magic Johnson and the Lakers just tampering with anyone and everyone and then pleading ignorance or brushing it off as players talking seems to finally be catching up to them. We saw it before the season even started as LeBron basically committed insider trading on his way to Los Angeles, as we discussed on The 300s Podcast last July.

Now we’re starting to see NBA executives getting fed up with teams just flaunting the rules, especially small market teams like New Orleans that depend on those rules. Now obviously if you think players aren’t talking and pitching each other during vacations and at All-Star games you’re glib, but when players are openly campaigning to play with other players under contract with different teams, that is beyond frustrating.

Especially when LeBron owns the company that employs the agent (Rich Paul) that your star player (Anthony Davis) now shares with LeBron himself. Robert Mueller couldn’t untangle that web of deception.

You can start to see the puppet strings from Rich Paul in recent reports that have come out. Such as the one suggesting that Kyrie wanted to reunite with LeBron and was likely to leave Boston after the season. Essentially just putting reports out there to try and destabilize the perception of Boston as a destination to help expedite a trade of Davis to LA.

The stance of Davis and his camp toward Boston is linked to their view of Kyrie Irving’s future, sources said. Davis and his camp no longer believe that Irving is a sure bet to re-sign with the Celtics this summer, and that’s the primary reason they insist on clumping Boston with a similar message to the 28 other teams: Buyer beware on a trade for Davis.

This is pure agent speak for I want my client in LA so I will float rumors that Boston’s best player is leaving after this season.

Simply put if we get past the next week and Anthony Davis is not traded, there is no way I can see that he doesn’t wind up with the Celtics. If the Pelicans truly are bullshit about the tampering consulting of Davis’ (and LeBron’s) agent to get him to LA, then they for sure won’t trade him before the deadline this year. That would bring us to the offseason when no team can really beat the Celtics’ potential package.

Whether Danny Ainge would ultimately give up Jayson Tatum in any package remains to be seen, but the Lakers don’t have too much that would entice me if I’m Dell Demps. Especially if they’re still pissed because theres no more powerful motivator in this world than spite.

So the big market Los Angeles Lakers are just going to punt on 2019-20 to hopefully sign Anthony Davis the FOLLOWING summer when LeBron will be in his age 35-36 season? Uhhh…

To sign Davis outright in 2020, the Lakers would have to maintain enough cap space for him — which could mean forfeiting the chance to add a star player this summer. The Lakers could sign that star free agent, and then sign-and-trade their young guys for Davis in the summer of 2020. Whatever the case, it’s a complicated path to Davis.

Not to mention if the Lakers want to gut their team to trade for Davis now it would put them in the same exact situation the Knicks were in when they acquired Carmelo Anthony back in 2011. Sure they got their guy, but the team around him after that was garbage.

What’s more, to deal all of their young assets for Davis now would complicate the Lakers’ path to a third star. With only Davis, LeBron and Luol Deng’s stretched salary on their books for 2019-20, the Lakers would have only about $30.5 million in cap space — not enough for a max free agent. They would either have to hope a star takes less than the max, or roll their space over to the summer of 2020 — when the cap will go up again.

So if your the Pelicans, whats the rush?

The Pelicans believe the Lakers will offer the same deal in June and July as they can offer now, which is one more reason to wait on the Celtics.

But it wouldn’t be ESPN if they didn’t end the article without shitting in the cereal bowl of Boston fans with this doomsday scenario:

Still, there are scenarios that concern Boston. For instance, the Celtics could disappoint in the postseason. The Knicks could win the draft lottery and enter the offseason with the one trade asset that tops Tatum: the NBA draft’s No. 1 pick, and the chance to select Duke’s Zion Williamson.

If that isn’t enough, the Knicks could add Kevin Knox to their offer and hope that acquiring Davis would entice a second star free agent to join him. Irving would be on their short list of such players, and the Knicks, armed with Davis and enough cap room for Irving, stand as one the only Irving threats that would unnerve Boston.

The tinfoil hat donning Celtics fans are already starting to freak out about this exact scenario after the Porzingis Woj bomb that dropped out of the sky this afternoon.

The Knicks are essentially hoarding assets and clearing out more cap space for a potential Anthony Davis trade to then turn around and team him up with….a freshly signed max contract Kyrie Irving. It takes some mental gymnastics to get there, but it is a scary thought.

I have more faith in the Browns making the Super Bowl than I do in the Knicks suddenly getting their circus together enough to facilitate one of the great coups in NBA history.

There Are Reports That Kyrie is “Genuinely Interested in Reuniting With LeBron.” Not Good!

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LeBron, you tampering son of a bitch. It all started with Kyrie Irving publicly and pretty blatantly complaining about the young guys surrounding him on the Celtics.

THEN by his own admission Kyrie called LeBron James for advice  and to apologize for their falling out.

LeBron, the guy that Kyrie hated so bad that he forced his way out of Cleveland, is who Kyrie is turning to for advice. Odd flex, but OK.

Credit where its due, but Felger pointed out on 98.5 today that LeBron, who loves to opine about his role as a veteran mentor, was radio silent on the matter. Seriously, there was not a single quote from LeBron about the exchange he had with Kyrie, which as Felger said is just suspicious. It may even point to a guy in LeBron who is being cautious of potential tampering charges should Kyrie sign with LA this summer.

THEN we get the Instagram Story from LeBorn legitimately singing about lost love and publicly tagging Kyrie. At that point I was officially concerned.

THEN there was also a story that flew under the radar a bit this week about how Kyrie is planning to produce and star in a movie about a haunted hotel in Oklahoma City.

I mean they film most movies in LA, but plenty of bangers have been shot in Boston. The Departed, The Town, Fever Pitch, I could go on and on, but the point has been made.

THEN as we get to the most deeply of buried leads, comes the report from Ric Bucher:

NOW, before I get my blood pressure up I want to acknowledge that this is a report from a “source close to the team.” While thats never ideal, it’s still just a whisper of a rumor. With that being said, this would be one of the softest moves in the history of a league filled with soft dough boys. You  just cannot do this as a man if you have even a *shred* of pride. Fed up with being treated as the little brother and overshadowed by LeBron, Kyrie forced a bitter split from a team that was coming off an NBA Finals appearance into a trade with their biggest rival. Now, he’s moved onto Boston and after trying to carry his own team for a grand total of TWO seasons he’s going to give up and go running back to big bro? I’m sorry, but I would crush him worse than I crushed Kevin Durant and thats a promise.

So lets just hope this is all a bunch of malarkey or this is a behind the scenes leverage play by Kyrie perhaps. Maybe he is just trying to ensure that Celtics ownership doesn’t take his presence for granted and Danny really goes after Anthony Davis hard this offseason. That way we can go back to being good friends and I can watch my guy Kyrie hit daggers in OT against the Raptors.

THEN we had the long expected trade request from Anthony Davis coming out of New Orleans, which due to the timing gives the Los Angeles Lakers the immediate leg up on acquiring him. All this just a few months after AD signed on with one Rich Paul…the same agent as LeBron James.

LeBron…you tampering son of a bitch.

What the Hell Does LeBron Think He’s Doing Sending My Man Videos?

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LeBron was on his IG stories singing some Fetty Wap song about lost love and tagging my man Kyrie Irving. Just look at these lyrics:

I know you’re with him now but soon you will be mine
If I could bring it back, I’ll probably press rewind

What the fuck man? This would have been odd a few weeks ago, but after Kyrie went out of his way to tell the word he called LeBron to 1.) apologize for past behavior and 2.) publicly bitch about the young guys on his own team, I am not liking this one bit.

Best case scenario? Kyrie has buried the hatchet with every Celtics fan’s blood rival so they can play grab ass on social media. Worst case scenario? These two are boys now that Kyrie understands the burden of leadership and LeBron is using that as a recruiting ploy for this summer.

Color me concerned.

LeBron Does Know He Lost to the Warriors 3 Out of 4 Times in the NBA Finals Right? Right??

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I give LeBron credit for winning the NBA Finals in 2016 because the current era Golden State Warriors are one of the best teams of all time. But with that being said it took a Draymond Green suspension and one of the most cold blooded dagger threes of all-time from Kyrie Irving to get him there. He also lost to that same Warriors team in 2015, 2017, and 2018. So maybe releasing footage of yourself harping on how the Warriors fuck up all the time is not the best look. Self awareness has never been LeBron’s strong suit though.

This all comes just a couple of days after footage came out of LeBron crowning himself the greatest of all-time for winning the ’16 finals. Despite losing to that same team 3 out of 4 times.

I don’t want to always harp on LeBron, I really don’t, but he just sets himself up for it. Listen, LeBron has done a lot of great things:

He brought the city of Cleveland its first title in 50 years.

He was excellent in Trainwreck.

And he is one of the best players of all time, but despite an impressive 8 straight appearances in the championship round he is still 3-6 in the NBA Finals. So maybe, just maybe, one pretty impressive comeback against a really good team doesn’t propel you to GOAT status. If that were the case then Ray Allen could say the same thing for his Game 6 dagger 3 against the Spurs.

Come to think of it, if it weren’t for ice cold blood in the veins of Jesus Shuttlesworth and Kyrie, LeBron James would be 1-8 in the NBA Finals.

Unrelated note: Stumbled upon this incredible LeBron impersonation…

Should the Celtics Bring Back Kendrick Perkins? Time for a Hit of Nostalgia!

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So apparently Kendrick Perkins called Danny Ainge just to check in and see if the Celtics had any interest in signing him. Imagine that? Just call up a company that you want to work for and ask hey do you want to pay me? No resumes, no interviews, just straight cash homie.

Normally I would sigh at the thought of a beloved, yet aging Boston athlete looking for one more shot at glory. I LOVE Perk, but we all saw him last year with Cleveland in a suit. The guy would make a phenomenal coach or more likely a corrections officer, but we all understand his playing days are over.

Except my 14-year-old brother was asking me about Perk wondering when was he really good, what he did well, and it dawned on me. 1.) How fucking old I really am and 2.) It’s easy to forget just how great Perk was for the Celtics back in the day. So lets dive in.

If Kendrick Perkins was born 20 years earlier he might be in the Hall of Fame today. I’m not joking. The guy was straight out of the 1980’s NBA. Bill Laimbeer would have been throwing hands with Perk twice a season. He was just an absolute force in the paint; a real old school bully. And that was exactly what the Celtics needed in 2007. A bodyguard for Rondo, a No. 2 to KG’s crazy, a guy willing to do the dirty work while the Big 3 handled all the scoring. He was the perfect fit for that team and both teammates and fans alike adored him.

I mean just look at this clip from the recent Celtics documentary that aired on NBC Sports Boston.

Never change, Perk.

Except Perk was actually born in 1984 and is really still only 34-years-old. Think about that for a second. He is literally just 40 days older than LeBron James. He’s 6 months younger than Carmelo Anthony. He’s two years younger than Dwyane Wade.

But, the sad fact is that the NBA game just passed Perk by. It passed a lot of guys by as the evolution of the game exploded so fast that the old school big man became a dinosaur in less than five years.

Perk’s last season with the Celtics was 2010-11 when Danny Ainge traded him to the OKC Thunder for Jeff goddamn Green in a move that I will still argue cost the C’s a legitimate shot at the title that year. I think if you got a couple warm milks in him, Danny would likely agree. But less than 5 years later the Golden State Warriors kicked off potentially the greatest dynasty we’ve ever seen built entirely on three point shooters, including the big men.

If you’re a big man who can’t shoot in 2018 you almost certainly are in the unemployment line these days. The Celtics have, and actively encourage, Aron Baynes to jack up multiple 3’s per game for fucks sake (averaging 6x 3PA per game than his previous career high last year). That was never Perk’s game so as the NBA turned into a video game with everyone pulling up from half court his role diminished a lot faster than anyone ever expected.

Did you know Kendrick Perkins has never made a 3 pointer in the NBA? Hell he’s only taken 14 attempts in 14 seasons!

To put that into context, from Perk’s last year with the C’s in 2010-11 the average 3 point attempts per game around the league have nearly doubled from 18 attempts per game to 31.3 per game this season. In the previous 8 seasons before that, average 3 point attempts per game had only increased about three from a low of 14.7 in 2002-03. So no one could have predicted the game completely changing the way it has.

As every Celtics fan my age will tell you, the C’s *never* lost a playoff series when their championship starting 5 was healthy and playing together. Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, and Kendrick Perkins. Never. Lost. A. Series. Incredible. If Perk doesn’t blow out his knee in the 2009-10 NBA Finals there isn’t a doubt in my mind the Celtics beat the Lakers and win their second title in three years cementing their legacy as one of the greatest teams of all time. Instead we’re left with one championship and a bunch of what ifs, but goddamnit I don’t want to go down this dark road again because I could blog 10,000 words about the 2007-2011 Celtics.

So it sounds like despite all the great times they had together in green, Danny is gonna pass on the former big man.

LiAngelo Ball Signs with Los Angeles…in the League LaVar Ball Started

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Yahoo – After working out with a number of NBA teams ahead of the 2018 NBA draft, LiAngelo Ball has found a home — in the Junior Ball Association. Per a release sent Monday, LiAngelo Ball will indeed play in the league started by his dad, LaVar Ball. He will also play on the Los Angeles Ballers team with his brother, LaMelo.

I would be doing a disservice to our fans if I didn’t chime in on the latest Ball family news. To be honest, I’ve fallen off on my viewership of Ball in the Family, which ain’t terrible. The show does a good job of painting LaVar as a guy that just wants the best for his family at all costs more so than the overbearing asshole we see popping off in the media piggybacking off his son’s fame. Thats probablyyy the exact intent of the show though so I won’t be putting LaVar into the parenting hall of fame or anything, but its worth checking out. Plus it is produced by Bunim and Murray so if you’ve watched just about any reality TV show in the past 20 years then you’ll feel oddly at home watching this on Facebook of all places.

Now with all the niceties out of the way, lets get to the latest Ball family news. Remember when LaVar Ball screamed from the rooftop that there should be a league where young guys can play and develop their game while also getting paid, without having to go to places like, oh ya know, motherfucking Lithuania?? Well he actually went and made that league; the Junior Ball Association. We actually blogged about this a while back and as we said, its not the worst idea.

“The modern day Vince McMahon just continues to roll along with his idea du jour; an alternative basketball league to compete with the NCAA. It’s geared at top players who don’t want to go to college, or ya know shit holes like Lithuania. Ya think LaMelo and LiAngelo might prefer playing in this league rather than taking trains and ferrys to Baltic League games in Kiev?

I gotta admit, this guy is COCKY, and it is contagious. Because on its face, its not a bad idea. If the NBA is so stuck on its “One and Done” rule (which it may actually get rid of sooner than later) then whats the point of a guy going to Duke for 8 months and showing up to a handful of classes posing as a college student like he’s in Never Been Kissed?”

With that being said LiAngelo Ball signing with and getting paid to play in the JBA, after failing to get drafted in the NBA or latch on with a summer league team, is downright laughable.

“At age 19, Ball was not selected in the 2018 NBA draft, nor did he sign on with an NBA Summer League team. Weeks ago, in an interview with NiceKicks.com, Ball said he was not going to play in the JBA. “I feel like that’s taking a step back for me,” he said June 27 to Nice Kicks. “If I have to play in the G-League then that’s what it’s going to be. I’m not running away from the work.”

Whoops.

This was to be expected as Woj said he had “no shot” of getting drafted and literally quoted GMs as laughing about the thought. Ouch.

So now we turn to the league that dad started. For anyone buried in student loans who has friends or coworkers that are buying houses and leasing out condos they’ve bought because they came from a well off family — this shit has to drive you insane.

LiAngelo seems like a nice enough dude besides the whole nearly starting World War III between the US and China because he needed to shoplift some fresh shades. Still to this day, avoiding an international incident after all that is DT45’s greatest accomplishment.

But I just cannot see this news without laughing at how soft it comes off. Just think about every rich kid you know, its hard to truly respect someone that has had it that easy.
Imagine you couldn’t get a job at the company you wanted to work for so your dad just up and makes a company for you to work at and get paid? That sounds like something out of a sitcom.

Like Ray Romano’s kid doesn’t make the baseball team so Ray and Robert start their own team and put all their own money into it. Sure, Debra would probably bitch and moan about it for the whole 22 minutes, but Ray doesn’t give a shit about Debra, hasn’t for years. Hilarity ensues.

But hey, play the hand your dealt I guess. Lonzo was a legit NCAA stud and top NBA draft pick. LiAngelo probably only got recruited to play at UCLA because of his brother. Meanwhile, the youngest of the three, LaMelo, has some potential to make the NBA. So if you’re the middle brother who’s stuck in no mans land, might as well take dad’s money, play ball in Los Angeles, all while still getting to put “Professional Athlete” on your LinkedIn page.

The 300s Podcast: We’re Going Green and Breaking Down the Celtics Offseason

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Friend of the podcast Mattes joins us on this episode as we break down the Celtics offseason thus far, we go around the rest of the NBA, a 60 Second Review of Uncle Drew, and Mattes rips into LaVar Ball. Listen on iTunes, Google Play, and The 300s Podcast is also NOW ON SPOTIFYYYYY

  • What Have You Liked/Disliked About the Celtics Offseason So Far?
  • What is the Future in Boston for Marcus Smart, Kyrie Irving, and Kawhi Leonard?
  • Mattes’ 60 Second Review of Uncle Drew!
  • Should LeBron Be Charged With Insider Trading?
  • Paul George Resigning With OKC is a Win for Small Towns Everywhere
  • What’s Going on With Old Friend Isaiah Thomas?

I Don’t Blame LeBron for Joining the Lakers, But How Will NBA History Remember Him?

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LeBron James is the latest superstar athlete to pack up and head for Hollywood to play for the Lakers. After years of hating on LeBron I have to admit, I don’t really blame him for this one. Three out of the last four years the Cavs just did not have enough firepower to beat the all-world Golden State Warriors. Part of that is his own fault for forcing the team to be built in his image, long term planning be damned, but all that aside the writing was on the wall. The Cavs were not getting any better so he could play out his days in Cleveland due to a sense of guilt for how he left his hometown high and dry for Miami all those years ago. Or he could go put a bow on his career and build a media empire while playing for the Showtime Lakers and learn from the Magic 8-ball himself.

After winning a title for those lovable losers in Cleveland, LeBron was playing with house money and he knew it. The fans couldn’t possibly turn on him again, especially after getting the Cavs to the finals the last 4 years in a row. So unless the Cavs somehow landed Kawhi or Paul George, which was never going to happen, LeBron had one foot out the door as soon as that championship parade was over.

Hey, I totally get the desire to just live somewhere that you like. I’m from Boston, born and bred, but I want to blow my brains out from the months of November to March. If it wasn’t for the Patriots, Bruins, and Celtics to get me through the miserable nuclear winters in this city I would have packed my bags and moved years ago.

So for a guy in his 30s with 3 kids who’s already accomplished just about everything in the league, I totally get wanting to go take a new job in a city thats 70 degrees every day of the year. Plus you know LeBron wants to make more movies, whether its the oft rumored Space Jam 2 or if its for more roles like his cameo in Trainwreck where I found myself liking LeBron more than I care to admit.

For LeBron he gets the benefits of both worlds, he’s now able to really start building the media empire he clearly wants to build and he gets to play for the Los Angeles Lakers who *could* be challenging for a championship as early as next year because they fall ass backwards into top free agents all the time. This probably isn’t exactly what Kobe had in mind when he told LeBron to just “figure it out” in order to win titles.

This move doesn’t seem like ring chasing though. The Lakers are fine, but barring some monster moves they aren’t true title contenders. Did the Warriors beat the will to win out of LeBron? Has he come to realize he probably isn’t going to be able to top Michael Jordan’s six rings without a hurricane wiping out the Bay Area? Maybe thats why, as Chris Mannix put it, winning seems to now be taking a back seat.

“Is James, 33, really willing to punt on the upcoming season in the hopes of success in the next one? Seems like it. L.A. is a fantastic business decision and clearly one with which his family was comfortable. But basketball? Finding his way to Houston, a 65-win team that had the Warriors on the ropes last season, would have been a basketball decision. The Sixers, a team with a pair of elite young franchise players already on board, would have been a basketball decision.

Boston, Denver, Golden State … those would have been basketball decisions.

The Lakers are about something else.”

If nothing else though, this team is going to be entertaining as fuck. For his first move as the new GM of the Lakers, LeBron signed Lance Stephenson.

Yup that guy.

For his second move he signed the wildly entertaining Javale McGee.

And then of course to top it all off, don’t forget the first family of LA, the patriarch of which is still very much embedded in this team.

I am legitimately excited for LaVar to complain on an episode of Ball in the Family (which shockingly ain’t half bad) that LeBron isn’t getting his son the ball enough. Skip Bayless literally may croak at his desk.

The only real knock on this whole situation though is where does it ultimately leave LeBron’s legacy? Does he get remembered as the guy who brought a championship to long suffering Cleveland? The guy who smoked his hometown with The Decision and built the NBA’s first real Super Team? Or is he remembered as a nomad just jumping around from team to team picking out the situation that suited him best at the time?

To be honest, I think when we look back in 20 years its probably going to be mostly the last one, but not in a negative way. He’ll be looked at as a guy ahead of his time because sure LeBron was the first one to orchestrate the construction of his own Super Team, but we’ve seen it time and time again in the years since. James Harden and CP3 working their way to the Rockets to play together. Kevin Durant heading for greener pastures to chase rings with the Warriors. LeBron was the first one to do it.

He may ultimately be revered as the guy that taught his peers the players have the power, not the owners. If you’re good enough you can leverage your talent to shape a team the way you see fit. LeBron did this with his 1+1 contracts, basically keeping his team on its toes for years (for better or worse) so they couldn’t just take a year off, not spend enough, or punt on a free agent because LeBron could just threaten to opt out and leave. He brought the power back to the players.

For all his dominance, his “must watchability,” his highs, his lows, LeBron will be an NBA legend when its all said and done, but when he does get that Hall of Fame nod……what jersey will he wear? Will it even matter by then?