In today’s NBA, it’s normal for star players to team up together. Unlike in past generations, league athletes today are always looking to build, or join, the best possible team and they have no issues leaving town to get what they want.
This practice has become increasingly common in recent years, with guys like Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, and James Harden all using their leverage and power as players to force their own team’s hand.
But if you’re looking for someone to blame for the rise of this trend, look no further than LeBron James, who is often credited for being the champion of the player movement.
When he left the Cavaliers to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, it drastically shifted the balance of power in a way that changed the game forever. After all, if the best player in the world had no issues joining a superteam, why should anyone else?
Needless to say, it shifted things in a big way, and not just on the NBA level.
Offensive Coordinator Blames LeBron James For Player Movement In High School
According to the University of Oregon’s offensive coordinator, Kenny Dillingham, the fad of superteams and team hopping has spread to the college world as well, and he blames nobody else but LeBron for it.
Then there’s every boomer’s favorite punching bags: social media and LeBron. “Social media is insanity,” says Ragle, and most coaches agree. Twitter is Humblebrag Junction. “All I see is Blessed to receive an offer here, blessed to receive an offer there,” says Scott, the South Mountain assistant. “Damn, son. Pick a school!”
As for King James: At least four different sources for this story pointed to The Decision as a watershed moment that reverberates to this day. “This generation of kids, they saw LeBron take his talents to Miami,” says Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, a Chaparral alum. “They wanna be on a super team.”
As so many others have pointed out before, LeBron is hardly the first player to join a super team. Magic Johnson, Kevin Garnett, and even Michael Jordan played with multiple stars and teams that can be considered stacked today.
The difference, however, is that LeBron willingly left and abandoned his old team behind in the process.
So when he made ‘the decision’ all those years ago, little did he know that he would go on to inspire thousands of athletes to take control of their own path and follow the trail of least resistance instead of sticking around to overcome all the obstacles.
