LeBron James has had one of the greatest careers in NBA history. While he never peaked as high as Michael Jordan did during his span of winning six titles in nine years, his overall body of work has a lot more depth. James leads the NBA in all-time scoring and appearances, also leading those two categories for the NBA Playoffs. Rashad McCants was drafted into the NBA two years after LeBron in 2005, but the former Minnesota Timberwolves guard has seen it all when it comes to James.
McCants recently spoke in a lengthy exclusive interview with Senior writer Eddie Bitar, where he discussed LeBron’s career and the factors that resulted in his success. He claimed that LeBron has never been a true championship leader, relying on Dwyane Wade on the Miami Heat and Kyrie Irving on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I don’t think LeBron has ever really truly led a team to the championship. I think that he’s contributed to the championships, but I think that, Dwyane Wade was ultimately the leader of that team, because he had won a championship prior. He knows how to win, he got them there, and LeBron was the contributor to that.”
“And I think that, when he went to Cleveland, LeBron contributed to the fact that Kyrie Irving was the home run hitter. He was the Sohei Ohtani; he needed to take it home. And that’s okay for LeBron to be a contributor, and a facilitator, and somebody that can actually, you know, help take you there, and get you there. You know, somebody who’ve been there 10 straight fin… 10 straight years in a row, going to the finals.”
McCants then explained how Kyrie played a similar role on the Dallas Mavericks alongside Luka Doncic, saying that neither James nor Doncic can win a title without having an x-factor player like Irving on the court, comparing him to the role Andre Iguodala played on the Golden State Warriors dynasty.
“This is a guy who has a blueprint for it, but when you talk about finishing. This is a Kyrie Irving, so I think Kyrie was that type of guy for Luka. But he wasn’t the guy who could actually take it over because he didn’t get the opportunity to. Luka wanted to be the guy. And so, I don’t think Luka can take it all the way. He doesn’t play both sides of the ball; he doesn’t show that competitive spirit that a leader needs to take it to the top, and I think, you look at all the champions. In the past, they needed that. They needed someone who’s gonna actually step up and take control of a championship.”
“And you look at the Warriors, shit, I believe that Iguodala was one of the guys that stepped up in that cutting time. It wasn’t Steph, and it wasn’t KD. It was… they needed the X Factor guys to do it, because neither one of these guys was one of those guys that can do it. So, when it comes down to Luka, I don’t believe that the Lakers can win it until they get someone else in there that can actually take it home for them.”
This is an interesting argument posed by McCants, as it’s hard to say if the best player on a team qualifies as their leader or not. Other members of the 2016 Cavaliers would likely say James was the true leader of that team, especially given Irving had a notorious reputation for being more aloof than James at that point.
McCants does have a point on the impact Irving had on Doncic, as Kyrie was a more mature and composed personality by the time he got to Dallas in 2023. He was coming off multiple controversies on the Brooklyn Nets and has had multiple seasons in Dallas, where his leadership has been heralded. Doncic did the same before getting traded, building a deep bond with Irving.
James might’ve needed Wade’s leadership in Miami, but it’s fair to say he acquired the tools he needed as a leader by the time he got to Cleveland. But Irving was an x-factor on the court, and McCants is right when he says that success wouldn’t have been possible without Irving, which we saw during the uncompetitive 2018 NBA Finals as well, as LeBron led the Cavaliers to the Finals despite Irving’s departure before being decisively outmatched by the Warriors.
Doncic definitely doesn’t lack competitive spirit like McCants mentioned, but he does have work to do as an on-court leader that his teammates will follow. Irving does inspire that confidence in his teammates and played that role during the Mavericks’ 2024 NBA Finals run.
It’ll be interesting to see what Doncic and James can achieve together this season, given McCants’ opinion of them. If they both needed Kyrie, what would they do without Irving but with each other? We’ll find out soon, as the Lakers are looking secure for a Playoff spot with a 47-26 record and the No. 3 seed in the West.
Doncic is averaging 33.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.3 assists as the league’s scoring leader, while James is averaging 21.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 6.9 assists. Irving hasn’t played a single game for the Mavericks this season amid recovery from a torn ACL he suffered last season.
