Lebron James Opts Out: WSJD "What Should James Do?"

Jun. 25, 2014

By: Tamir Barkan

Lebron Opts out: WSJD

"What SHOULD James Do"

Disclaimer: I am not suggesting what Lebron should do about his money, his career, and his "Decision". He will, and should do what is best for him.

I am merely suggesting an option. An option that will cement his legacy in sports history.

Magic Johnson and Larry Bird changed basketball forever. Michael Jordan changed sports forever. Lebron can do the same. He's actually already started to pave the way.

The Big 3 is not a new concept. Russell/Jones/Cousy/Havlicek (sorry did I say Big 3?), Baylor/West/Chamberlain, Magic/Jabbar/Worthy, Jordan/Pippen/Rodman. Those were all achieved naturally.

Well as naturally as Jabbar for garbage players 1 through 4, Magic's #1 draft pick for a average player traded 3 years earlier, and again James Worthy's #1 draft pick for a role player traded 3 years earlier. But naturally as in no player collusion.

And more recently the Big 3 in Boston, with Peirce/Garnett/Allen. But not until the Big 3 in Miami have 3 players from different teams planned to come together and play with one another, controlling their own destiny. Maybe it is considered unnatural, but not wrong. If the 70's Lakers, 80's Lakers, and 90's Bulls had the same salary cap rules as today, those big 3's would have existed or at the very least wouldn't have lasted.

So Lebron has already started to shape NBA history by bringing the power of team building to the players. He has options. He controls his destiny.

Lebron can completely change the course of Sports history, by taking the veteran minimum (in his prime) in order to choose his own destiny. Again, I am not saying he should, or that if he doesn't he is wrong. But taking the league minimum to choose his ultimate destination and legacy would be unprecedented and would change the course of all future legacies. Is it truly just about winning? This would prove that unlike any other.

Below is a guestimate of what each teams roster would look like if Lebron joins their team for a league minimum with the assumption that the rest of their team stays the same. I ranked them in order of what I think would be the most successful teams. Age does play a role (see SAS). There are 5 tiers.

5+ championships - (with these rosters there is no reason that the team wont win at least 5 rings (I know thats what people thought about Miami, but who knew everyone would quit on Lebron in year 4.
3-5 championships
1-3 championships - (you'll see some of the older teams here. SAS, Nets, Dallas, Lakers and even Miami assuming the roster stays the same).
NBA Finals - Roster is pretty bad, but Lebron is that good.
Playoffs - Terrible teams but Lebron would at least make them competitive.

With the exception of 3 teams, if Lebron joins any other team in the NBA they will win at least 1 championship, and for an elite Mount Rushmore group of 4 teams he would win, not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5...

Some people think the new era of team building is "cheating", but its not, it's not a result of Lebron James, its a result of rule changes, salary caps, collective bargaining, etc. Its the same concepts, just a different way of getting around it.

Jordan said "There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry [Bird], called up Magic [Johnson] and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team."

True. He wouldn't have said that. But if he played in today's NBA saw that his owners had 7 years and never got him a Scottie Pippen, or a Horace Grant, and he was stuck carrying a team of chumps to the NBA finals on his own, he would have done something. He wouldn't have called up Magic or Larry because he was trying to catch them, just like Lebron would not have called Kobe or Duncan, but Jordan would have called Ewing and Barkley.

Lebron took less money to win a championship. He was still the Finals MVP both times he won with Bosh and Wade. He didn't have a Pippen, a Worthy, a McHale, etc. He simply did what his owner and General Managers couldn't in Cleveland, he simply got himself a running mate (nothing that Jordan, Magic, Bird, Shaq, and Kobe didn't have).