Former NBA player Jeff Teague has stories for days, and he shared another interesting one on the latest episode of his Club 520 Podcast. Teague got to be around the great Larry Bird during his 2016-17 season with the Indiana Pacers and recounted a conversation between them about LeBron James.
“I remember we was in the locker room,” Teague said. “… We was chilling, and [Larry] was talking about how good LeBron was, and I was like ‘LeBron better than you?’ He said, ‘LeBron’s the greatest player ever besides Michael [Jordan].’ I was like damn. He was like, ‘I’ll never pay anybody who played with LeBron. I would never pick him up on my team.’ I said why?
“He said, ‘Because he make them all look good. They all really sad,’ swear to good,” Teague continued. “Exact words. He said, ‘You go get them, and they’re not gonna be the same player you wanted.'”
We have heard the part about Bird saying he did not want to sign James’ teammates before. He was president of basketball operations for the Pacers from 2003 to 2012 and from 2013 to 2017, and was wary of bringing in players who were playing well next to the all-time great forward.
Co-host Bishop “B Hen” Henn brought up Timofey Mozgov as an example in response to Teague’s comments. Mozgov had spent the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons with James on the Cleveland Cavaliers. He then hit free agency in the 2016 offseason, and the Los Angeles Lakers signed him to a four-year, $64 million deal.
Considering Mozgov averaged 7.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game for the Lakers in 2016-17, it’s safe to say they made a mistake. Plenty of other teams made such errors, too.
The thing is that James has made life much easier on the court for his teammates over the years. He always attracts a lot of attention from defenses thanks to his scoring prowess, which often leads to open looks for his teammates. Unlike many of the great scorers, James has been a willing passer, too, so he’d make sure they get that ball.
To go with the scoring and playmaking, James was a pretty good rebounder and defender at his peak. Being able to do pretty much everything on the court at a high level is just one of many reasons why the 41-year-old has gone down as one of the greatest players ever. Some would argue he is the best we have seen.
James has won four titles, four Finals MVPs, four MVPs, one scoring title, and one assists title. He is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and just wrapped up his record-breaking 23rd season. He’s likely going to play a 24th, too. The longevity is remarkable.
Bird was forced to retire after just 13 seasons due to back problems. Back in 2019, he was marvelling at James’ longevity, and it has only gotten more mind-boggling since.
Bird has called for people to stop whining about James as well. He wants everyone to enjoy him while he’s still here, and that’s some good advice. Bird also called James one of the greatest players ever, if not the greatest.
Michael Jordan remains the more popular selection for that GOAT title. Jordan won six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, one DPOY, and 10 scoring titles during his storied career. He has more major accolades, but James can still add to his tally, provided he doesn’t stunningly walk away from the game this summer.
