Arnold Glasow, the famous businessman, once said, “A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit.” Nelson Mandela gave it to us like this, “It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” Then John Quincy Adams poured out a lil’ liquor for all the dead homies when he said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
Well playas…if great leaders inspire dreamers to dream, learn, do and become more we’ve got a problem with LeBron James. He doesn’t do either of those with his teammates. For years I’ve been tellin’ you boyz that he’s the best all-around basketball player we’ve ever seen. However, because he’s so good he’s become a detriment to his team and doesn’t make the guys around him better.
Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! The dun is so good that he can play multiple positions durin’ the course of a freakin’ game at any point and he often does. The fact that he can get down like that and will, allows him to stunt the growth of the duns he’s playin’ with. He’s one of the only cats in the history of the league that can do it. Oh, I’m just talkin’ bruh? Here’s what he’s been able to accomplish in NBA history and be the only one to it:
• 1st place all-time in career assists by a forward.
• 1st place all-time being named Conference player of the Week with 51 nominations.
• 1st place all-time being named Conference player of the Month with 30 nominations.
• 1st place all-time in points scored in All-Star games with 291.
• Only player in NBA history to average at least 27 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists for their career.
• Only player in NBA history to post at least 2000 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists, and 100 steals in four consecutive seasons.
• Only player in NBA history to post at least 2000 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists, and 100 steals in a single season for at least seven seasons.
• Only player in NBA history to post at least 2000 points, 500 rebounds, and 500 assists in a single season for at least seven seasons.
• Only player in NBA history to win the NBA Player of the Month Award four times in two consecutive seasons.
• Only player in NBA history to change teams after averaging at least 27 points, twice.[29]
• Only player in NBA history to average at least 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists for 11 consecutive seasons.
Now there are multiple reasons as to why he’s the ONLY player in NBA history to do all of those things. A) He’s the only cat that could consistently do it. B) He’s the only cat that has had to do it because other than the Miami teams he’s had no help. But MOST IMPORTANTLY and C) He keeps jumpin’ in and out of boyz way durin’ the regular season to the point where he’s stuntin’ the growth of his role players. At some point you’ve got to trust a boy to do his freakin’ job and make the players around him better.
Kyrie hasn’t gotten any better since LeBron has arrived in Cleveland and why isn’t Kevin Love any better today than he was 2 years ago? I could argue that he’s worse today than he was 2 years ago. Why? Because his attitude is a mess because LeBron is in his way. Love was frustrated most of last season because he never knew where he fit in the offense.
Jordan never got into Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman or Steve Kerr’s way. Kobe didn’t show up to work and jump into Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom’s cubical and take over. Naw playa, they let boyz do their jobs and they got better at them all season long. Naw playa, they demanded that boyz got better! So when they showed up to the Finals EVERYBODY knew what they were expected to do and they went out and did it.
Let’s take last year’s Finals for example. LeBron HAD to do EVERYTHING just to keep the water out of the boat. Now logical minds can and will argue that if he hadn’t done everything they wouldn’t have even made it to the Finals. And that is 100 percent correct, especially with boyz hurt. However, when you’ve got to do EVERYTHING you can’t win championships because the duns you’re playin’ with don’t ever get comfortable in their roles. Why? Because the dun doin’ everything is gettin’ in their way. It’s IMPOSSIBLE for you to win in the Finals if only one cat is ballin’.
It’s like the dun that owns the bakery down the street tryin’ to compete with the best bakery downtown. My man down the street has crazy skills but won’t let his employees do their jobs. He’s got a dun that specializes in icing and decorations another cat that bakes only and a boy that does presentations. But when it comes down to the final competition my guy down the street takes over and does everything. But the downtown bakery allows the specialists to do their respective jobs and they win every time bruh. Why? Because one cat can’t beat a team of specialists no matter how good he is. Jordan could play the wing but he couldn’t defend it better than Scottie! Jordan could rebound but he couldn’t rebound better than Rodman. So guess what? He let them do their freakin’ jobs.
I pulled up the SBNation Finals Guide from last year and it confirmed what I’ve been tellin’ you boyz. It said that only LeBron and Jerry West has had a triple-double in the Finals while scorin’ as many as 39 points. Which is NUTS!! It went on to say that ole boy had a usage rate of 41.4 percent in the Finals. Now for all of you cats that don’t know, the usage rate is an estimate of the percentage of a team’s possessions ended by a single player via a shot, drawn foul or turnover while he was on the floor. Let me give you an idea of how nuts his was bruh. Kobe has the highest joint ever recorded for the regular season is 38. 74 durin’ the 2005-06 season. The highest ever in the playoffs before LeBron was 39.3 by Tony Parker in 2009.
What am I sayin’ bruh? He’s doin’ too much and his teammates aren’t gettin’ better. He’ll continue to get to the Finals but he’ll continue to lose in the Finals. Why? Because you can’t win championships havin’ to do EVERYTHING. You gotta give him credit for bein’ able to do more with less. But you can’t win titles with less!
This ain’t the NCAA Tournament where you can show up and win one game and win it all. You’ve got to win the best of 7 playboy and the best TEAM always wins.
Duns like Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Jordan, Kareem, Kobe, etc. etc. etc. stayed in their lanes and won. Why? Because the players around them were better by the time they showed up in the Finals. Did I also mention that he’s been in the league for 12 years without a coach and doin’ everything? That’s a problem too.
Now don’t get it twisted bruh, LeBron will probably go down as the greatest individual basketball player we’ve ever seen because the numbers won’t lie. However, he won’t be one of the greatest champions we’ve ever seen because he doesn’t make his teammates better. Therefore, he’s not playin’ on better TEAMS. Stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
1) Spit: verb – to say
2) Dun: noun – the person in question, dude, guy, etc. It’s whoever I’m talkin’ about and its non-gender specific.
