LeBron James is all set to enter the 20th season of his NBA career. Despite being in the NBA for almost two decades, James is still one of the best players in the league. He gave a sneak peek at what fans should expect from him in his 20th season during a Drew League appearance last Saturday.
As good as James is, to succeed in the modern-day NBA, a player needs support from his teammates as well. LeBron’s career timeline is probably the best example of it.
During his initial years in the NBA, it didn’t take him much time to start dominating the league with his freak athleticism. But looking at the bigger picture, the Cleveland Cavaliers at the time were a bad team and were being exposed in the playoffs.
James later decided to form a superteam with his close friends Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. Although that decision helped James in winning the first two rings of his career, the price was that he became the villain of the league.
More than a decade later, James is criticized by NBA fans and analysts alike for forming a superteam. Several other superstars have followed the path left by James, and making a superteam has become the new norm for the league.
NBA legend and analyst Shaquille O’Neal recently spoke about it during his recent appearance on ‘The Big Podcast.’ O’Neal was talking about how Kevin Durant’s recent trade request out of the Nets is still somehow LeBron’s fault for starting the trend of making superteams.
(Starts at 28:45)
Via The Big Podcast:
“That’s the loophole that’s accepted that but you know, and I say, LeBron started making the super team and all that.”
Shaq didn’t dive too deep into the matter and focused on berating Kevin Durant for his decision to request a trade from the Brooklyn Nets.
But the fact that Shaq mentioned James’ name proves that people are still unhappy with LeBron starting the trend of superteams in the NBA. This is something that will forever be associated with LBJ, no matter what he does in his career.
