We’ve been comparing LeBron James to Michael Jordan or Bill Russell – or Wilt or Kareem or Magic, pick one – because we’ve been thinking about his place in the game, his legacy, and we’ve been wondering if he’s the greatest of all time. First of all, stop wondering. Of course he’s the greatest of all time. Did Jordan win more rings, without a loss in the NBA Finals? Yes, he did. Russell went 11 for 12 in the NBA Finals, by the way.
Is that really the copout you’re going to use to make this choice? LeBron James is the game’s greatest scorer and among NBA all-time leaders in assists (fourth), steals (sixth) and rebounds (24th). His 26.8 ppg career scoring average is eighth all-time. He’s won four NBA titles in three cities and won four MVP trophies (and probably should’ve won 10).
Obviously, LeBron James is the GOAT.
Doyel in 2017: Jordan vs. LeBron? You know the answer
Never mind. We’re doing something different here, making another comparison, because it’s more timely, more topical.
More aggravating.
Who is LeBron James more like – Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers?
Neither of those guys, all-time NFL quarterbacks as if you didn’t know, could decide what to do late in their careers either. In the case of Favre, he was deciding whether to retire. Rodgers has been deciding every year since COVID, it feels like, whether to retire or to play for the Jets or Steelers or, I don’t know, go on “Dancing with the Stars” or maybe start writing for Newsmax or Outkick the Coverage.
In the case of LeBron, 41, he’s deciding where to play for the 2026-27 NBA season, which will be his 23rd career season. It’s a remarkable achievement of genetics, endurance, discipline and modern medicine.
But LeBron, who was born with superior genetics to almost any athlete in history – physical and mental – also was born with an ego that doesn’t seem to compute, to process, to care how his latest decision is impacting the world around him. Or maybe he does care. Maybe he cares a great deal, loving how the world around him is just waiting, waiting, waiting.
USA Today: LeBron James live updates, news, rumors on free agency decision
Another view: LeBron James is making the NBA wait. He’s earned that right
Whatever the case, NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Thursday called out LeBron, saying this one player – just one guy, I don’t care how great he is – is holding up business around the NBA.
“We have to finish up the schedule,” Silver said when asked about LeBron’s pending decision by CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin at the CNBC Sport x Boardroom Game Plan Summit in New York City.
“Right,” said Sorkin.
Silver continued.
“And where LeBron plays will affect the schedule,” Silver said. “So I would like him to make his announcement already, so we can finish the schedule, because, as you might imagine, the teams are calling us, the networks are calling us, and everybody wants to lock in the schedule. But it will influence how we set the schedule, how we set opening week, Christmas Day, etc. So I need him to make a decision.”
I would like him to make his announcement already…
That’s a strong statement from anybody, but from NBA commissioner Adam Silver? That’s a staggering rebuke of LeBron’s decision-making process, affected perhaps by the prevailing belief that LeBron knows where he’s going and is just dragging this out for reasons known only to LeBron.
As smart as he is – and he’s brilliant – LeBron is capable of misjudging his own importance, of treating his career decisions like this is England and he’s the royal family. It’s not, LeBron. And you’re not, even if you do answer to “King James,” and even if you did choose @KingJames as your Instagram handle, and even if you did get KJ1 (King James 1?) tattooed onto your right hand.
Remember The Decision? Sure you do. It was 2010, and LeBron was a first-time free agent deciding between staying with Cleveland or going somewhere, so he got himself a 75-minute show on ESPN – called “The Decision” – and invited the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich, Connecticut, to watch and then announced, “I’m taking my talents to South Beach.”
It was a staggering display of ego, bordering on narcissism, especially from someone who has always handled himself so well in the public eye. Hard to imagine his worst public misstep in a quarter-century as a world-famous athlete is that 2010 TV show, but that’s how smooth, how self-aware, he can be.
But then along comes a decision like this one, creating a daily drama by inviting all 30 NBA teams to make their pitch, even as someone on his team is leaking it to the media that James wants to go to Golden State and play with Anthony Davis. Never mind that Anthony Davis is under contract with the Washington Wizards. If there’s one thing King James has learned since he was a 16-year-old being flown around the country by sneaker companies, it’s this:
What LeBron asks for, LeBron gets.
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He wanted the Los Angeles Lakers to hire his podcast buddy, J.J. Redick, as head coach in 2024 – and the Lakers did it. (Redick seems like a legit NBA coach.)
A few days later, LeBron had another ask: He wanted the Lakers to pick his son Bronny James during the 2024 NBA Draft, and despite Bronny’s freshman production at Southern California – 4.8 ppg on 36.6% shooting – the Lakers did it. (Bronny, bless him, doesn’t seem like a legit NBA player.)
Now this, another Summer of LeBron, another decision, another story suffocating the NBA. LeBron’s agent, Rich Paul, has turned the daily drama into a podcast. Good for him.
As for LeBron, he’ll pick when he’s good and ready, and the NBA can just wait. If Adam Silver really cared about the schedule, maybe he’d get on the phone with the Wizards and ask them to hurry up and trade Anthony Davis to Golden State. Because that’s what LeBron wants, and if there’s one thing we’ve all learned over the years, it’s this:
Nobody tells LeBron: “No.”
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Doyel: LeBron James’ free agency is holding up the NBA schedule. Think LeBron cares?
Reporting by Gregg Doyel, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Gregg Doyel, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
