Did LeBron's Ego Get In The Way Of His Becoming The Best Player Of All Time?
Jamie Mah @grahammah
Lebron James will undoubtedly go down as one of the top five best NBA players of all time. He's been a freak of nature for 17 years, the likes of which the league has never seen. He possesses the ultimate combination of supreme god given athletic ability coupled with the skills of a magician orchestrator. He can pass, shoot and rebound like the best of them. He's essentially a modern 2.0 version of Magic Johnson. But as was the case with many of his past contemporaries, Lebron suffers from Lebron.
On April 12th, the Los Angeles Lakers fired Head Coach Luke Walton. Walton was never perceived as being a bad coach. His being let go, unfortunately, had more to do with Lebron not believing in him than how he performed as leader of the team.
A few days after his termination, Walton was hired on by the Sacramento Kings. Being fired one day and hired on the next does not normally happen. This transaction says more about one's situation versus one's ability. Lebron had a big role in this, whether he admits it or not.
David Blatt, one of the most decorated European coaches ever, also suffered the same fate a few years back when he was coaching Lebron in Cleveland. If you continue to look throughout Lebron's career, you'll see a pattern emerging.
Only a select few can handle and not lose their jobs when it has come to coaching Lebron. Eric Spoelstra, Miami's coach, would have suffered the same fate had he not had the full backing of Heat President, Pat Riley. Lebron is that powerful and he wields his influence with the fullness with which the league has never seen.
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The issue for Lebron as it was for Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and even Magic Johnson, was that being this good causes you to think you know everything. It took certain strong willed coaches to coax the best out of Magic (Riley) and Jordan and Kobe (Phil Jackson). Since Lebron has never had a coach who has truly pushed him to be a better leader (say Gregg Popovich) he's never been forced to adapt and change his game accordingly.
It took Jordan seven gruelling years for him realize that by trusting his teammates more he could lean on them in big games. Open shots for John Paxson and Steve Kerr were the design of Phil and his Triangle system. But it was on Jordan to accept that he could not do it on his own if he ever wanted to win a title or several. In realizing this, Jordan became a better teammate, and as such, a more complete player. He was able to reach his ceiling and win six championships because of this acceptance.
For someone who's been lauded as being the second best player of all time, to have only won three championships (and it's looking bleak for him to win any further) is a shame. Lebron is probably the most physically gifted player to have ever laced them up outside of maybe Giannis and Shaq. Eight straight finals appearances confirms this much. But to have only won three out of nine finals appearances says just as much about Lebron and who he is as a leader as it does the teams he dragged to the finals.
If you think what I'm writing here is overblown, look no further than what ESPN senior writer Brian Windhorst just penned. In his latest column titled "Windhorst's handbook for coaching LeBron James," he details that any new Lakers coach must possess the following traits:
Have his respect when you walk in the room
Have a game plan
Hold him accountable, and be ready for him to push back
Be ready for passive-aggressive behavior
Number two sounds rather obvious, but numbers one, three and four are common threads you'd have associated with Magic, Jordan and Kobe. It's understandable why he'd act the way he does. In his mind he thinks he's always right, which a lot of the time, he is. But for him to contemplate another way of doing things, as Windhorst explains above, any coach he has must command his ultimate respect. Luke Walton was once his teammate and peer. He's been coaching for less than five years. Regardless of his talent and future successes, this was never going to be a fit. Lebron needs someone older and wiser. Sadly, he's never had a coach with that type of pedigree.
**Side note. I realize Lebron has been a willing passer his whole career and that his assists numbers are fantastic. But just being a great passer does not equate to being a true leader. Russell Westbrook has led the league in assists. This does not mean he's a willing passer or a strong leader. There's a difference here and understanding the two will help illustrate those who win and those who do not.
Much like I'm presenting the issue about Lebron's ego being his biggest impediment to him ascending to the top of the NBA throne so to speak, Shaquille O'Neal suffered from a similar fate when he played, yet instead of a super inflated ego, it was his work ethic that caused him to not reach his true ceiling. Had Shaq worked at being in shape and given his raw talent the nurturing it needed as he got older, his four rings might have been six or seven. He was that dominant and it's why Shaq's career is somewhat sad if you consider how large his physical gifts were.
This is why Jordan is so special. Kobe almost just as much. They both had extraordinary skill sets and the work ethics to match their talents. By combining both, they rose and won. But even they needed a strong coach to help them overcome what could have been their biggest impediment, their super charged egos. Lebron has a superego and he is suffering from its flaw and unless he gets a strong coach who will push him to adapt, it will be on Lebron to hopefully learn on his own that he needs to change if he's ever going to win again. Regretfully, I doubt he ever will.
**Side note. There's a good reason as to why Tyrone Lue is being considered favourably for the Lakers coaching position. He has pedigree with Lebron. They've won together. Most likely the Lakers best option. However, I stress, Lue isn't the kind of coach I'm suggesting here. Just want to make that clear.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers were a shining example of Lebron's superego for years. Coaches could never really develop an offensive identity because Lebron only wanted to play one way. Give him the ball and let him do his magic, which 75% of the time was a good idea. But when Lebron left the game for a rest, his teams often fell apart. Why? Because they had no identity. Why was that? Because they were never able to develop one. Lebron dominates in the way he wants to play so much, that for most of his life he's never been told or asked to play any other way. In assessing his career, he was never forced to modify and grow as a player and as a leader.
This past Lakers season is a shining example of this fault. For once in his career Lebron wasn't good enough (age and injuries will do that to you) to just will his team into the playoffs. He learned painfully that he's going to need to alter his game and trust his teammates even more so than he ever would if he's ever going to win again.
What's alarmingly sad about all of this is that, he might be out of time. Beginning next season, Lebron will be turning 35 in December. Very few players have ever won at that age and still been the most dominant player on their teams. Jordan did but outside of him there isn't anyone who played at that high a level at that age. Jordan also had Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman to work with. Who does Lebron have? He better hope the Lakers have a big summer.
Had Lebron been coached by Phil, Riley, Popovich or even Steve Kerr, I guarantee he'd have won several more championships. They'd have forced him to grow and restyle his game to actually play within a system. They'd have taught him the value of trusting his teammates and that you having the ball and distributing is not a real NBA offence. For most of his career this has worked to some degree (nine finals appearances confirms as much), but when it comes to winning championships, Lebron will be measured by his truest stat, 3–6 in the Finals.
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Kobe Bryant talked about Lebron and his mounting losses in the finals last summer with a harsh truth quote saying that "If I'm Bron, you got to figure out a way to win. It's not about narrative. You want to win championships, you just gotta figure it out."
Not to slight his friend at all for what he's accomplished, the meaning I've gathered from Kobe's quote was his saying, that what you're currently doing isn't working. You need to change. You keep doing the same thing and you keep losing. It took Jordan seven years and a strong willed coach to learn to do things differently. It took Kobe even longer. Lebron rarely did and he's never been forced to either. Yet, unlike Jordan and Kobe, he was so damn good he still won three titles anyways. But could it have been more? I believe it should have.
ESPN wouldn't be running a story with a similar theme if I was the first to come to this conclusion. It's a problem and unless Lebron figures out that he needs to modify his game, he and us as his fans will always be left wondering once he's gone. Did LeBron's Ego Get In The Way Of His Becoming The Best Player Of All Time?
I guess only time will tell.