LeBron James is a player that is well known for playing with a lot of stars ever since he made the decision to go to the Miami Heat. Most of his teams since 2012 have had multiple stars on the roster, leading some people to suggest LeBron James needs a lot of help to win.
The Los Angeles Lakers are a team that has recently signed a number of free agents: they signed Thomas Bryant to a one-year deal. They also signed Scotty Pippen Jr. to a two-way deal, and Shareef O’Neal to a summer league deal.
Obviously, what those three players have in common is that they all share last names with NBA greats, with Shareef O’Neal and Scotty Pippen Jr. notably being the sons of Shaquille O’Neal and Scottie Pippen, respectively. An NBA fan recently posted a photo of LeBron James alongside those players, jokingly asking “how much help” LeBron James needs. A lot of fans reacted to the photo, with many of them making their own jokes.
How much help does lebron NEED pic.twitter.com/uIzQcgCRjb
— Dom2K 🎅🎇 (@Dom_2k) July 6, 2022
There is no doubt that everyone needs help to win, not only LeBron James. There is often a double standard when it comes to player-assembled and front office-assembled superteam, with Oscar Robertson once pointing out that the reaction when the Boston Celtics got Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen was much different from when LeBron James went to the Miami Heat in free agency.
When Boston got Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, that was David Stern’s deal and the NBA allowed that. Everything was fine… But when LeBron went to Miami, ‘Oh man, like how can you do this?
The Los Angeles Lakers tried to create a big three last season by trading for Russell Westbrook, but that clearly did not work out for them. The Lakers are viewed as the favorite when it comes to landing point guard Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets, so it’s clear the team is exploring avenues to put a better-fitting roster around LeBron James.
While LeBron James is entering the twilight of his career, it is quite possible that he’ll manage to win some championships before he retires. We will see if he will be able to do so on the Lakers next season.
