LeBron and his career planning
Since nothing big is gonna happen today apparently I thought this would be a good space to gauge how others feel about LeBrons career choices. There’s a million different posts about LeBron and Golden State but that it is even considered as a possibility sort of does my head in.
LeBron is my goat and I think he has surpassed any and every expectation anyone has ever had for him. The reinventions, the jumper development, etc. etc. He quite clearly is one of (and for me) the best basketball players ever. However, I never really understood a lot of choices he made. Choices, that, I my opinion, pretty much made sure that he would always be compared to Jordan instead of carving out his own unique legacy.
Most obviously, the choice of #23 has irked me since forever. I get being a kid and being inspired by Mike. But once he came into the league, why would he insist on wearing the one number that forever will be tied to one person and one person only. I really think this is an unprecedented level of deference from someone who was touted as highly as LeBron. If you think about it, I can’t think of any other high profile player (outside of AD) who has worn that number. And for good reason. 23 transcends basketball, it is synonymous with Michael Jordan. Even giving him the benefit of the doubt and assuming that he had this much belief in himself that he could become Jordan’s equal in terms of number recognition, that would still have been a really idiotic calculation on his part, realistically, 10 rings wouldn’t have erased the cultural legacy Jordan has tied to that very number.
Even more so, while his decision to sign for Nike might have been the most sensible financially, it once again put him in the same ecosystem that Jordan built. The Nike x Jordan collab basically created sneaker culture and there was never a shot that any LeBrons would exceed the impact the AirJordans have had.
Right at the start of his career, that’s two choices that invariably signaled that LeBron was in Mikes footsteps instead of carving out his own path. Some might not care about that as much and see it as tangential only. But in terms of branding, those are probably the most significant choices any athlete can make and in both instances LeBron decided to follow someone else instead of separating himself from the boogeyman comparison to who would follow his whole career. Steph made underarmour popular for a while, Kobe obviously had his own sneaker thing going on at first as well. Even players far less talented than LeBron have had outsized cultural impacts especially because their branding choices were decidedly unique. KD is 35, Luka is 77, Dirk is 41, Duncan is 21. LeBron is what? He’s obviously not 23 and he’s also not 6 since Silvers idiotic idea to retire Russel league-wide.
If he truly went to Golden State, this would another example of LeBron mishandling his own career arc for no good reason. Granted, the Heat years, the Cavs comeback, those were great for his narrative. That would be counteracted if he joined the team that beat him in three finals. It advances my greater point that we look at these rumors and think ‘yes, that’s something LeBron might do’.
Once again, I understand if others might not care much about this. But to me, the NBA was always about narratives, rivalries, the uniqueness of legends. And I just don’t think LeBron has been particularly good at ensuring that his iconic career really stands the test of time.
I’d love to hear other opinions about this though.