This is what some fans always claim. That James made everyone around him better. What I will always hear too though is that Lebron James lost because of his teammates, specially the ones with the Cavs. Now I'm confused. He made his teammates better but he lost all because of his teammates? Although there is truth to that, I think we can somehow blame Lebron too. Aight hear me out before you go all mad. I am a big fan of James but I somehow feel that he was hogging that ball way too much and him being the system hurt his team. His gift is possibly a curse at the same time.
I will list down some players and what they averaged before they joined Lebron and what happened when he played with them. It's important to note though that Lebron never had a legendary Coach. The best he had was Eric Spolstra. I would have to say that this was the only time he played under a system. That Miami team had ball movement. That Miami team had designed plays for everyone. Dwyane Wade was also allowed to create his own plays much like how Kyrie Irving was allowed to. Both also could be the main guy on Lebron's team at any given moment. Call it coincidence but both times, Lebron won titles. Chris Bosh, that Toronto's go to guy had turned to a spot up shooter mostly when he went to Miami. Now it is understandable that Lebron, Wade and Chris would all have to share the ball and it did work for Miami. Not the case in Cleveland.
Now I said Lebron is the system himself but there is a huge difference between his stay in Miami and Cleveland. Though both times he had two perennial All stars Wade and Bosh in Miami and Kyrie and Love in Cleveland, the latter were not allowed to do as much. How and why? Lebron in Cleveland had the ball in his hands 90% of the time. People say oh he actually makes it easier for his teammates because he will set them all up. The problem there was guys like Jamison, Thomas, Shaq and Love were all franchise players. They need enough touches to be more effective. Yes Shaq was old but he still was effective. Guys like Clarkson, Green, Hood etc were in the same situation. They needed touches to be effective.
Buddy of mine once mentioned why Lebron never had a teammate who can play great in the post. He actually had one in Love but the problem is he seldom gets the chance to operate and like what's mentioned above, he was mostly there to wait for Lebron to pass him the ball. We're talkin about a guy who was 26-12. A franchise player. James never had a ball dominant teammate with again the exception of Wade and Irving which both times he won titles with. Cleveland made a good move acquiring Isiah Thomas. How easily people forget how Thomas carried that Celtics team on his back. He was as great as Kyrie but Lebron never allowed him to get his touches.
For someone who makes his teammates better, this surely wasn't the case. Below are the players and their average before they joined Lebron and how they all declined when they joined James.
R. Hood 16 down to 10
K. Love 26 Down To 18
J. Clarkson 15 Down To 13
G. Hill 17ppg Down To 10
A. Jamison 20 down to 16
S. O'neal 18 down to 14
C. Bosh 24 down to 18
M. Miller 11 down to 6
R. Allen 14 down to 11
R. Lewis 8 down to 5
I love Lebron James. He is without a doubt the best of this era but the myth about him making his teammates may not be true. To be fair, we have to go back to the fact that the only good Coach he's played under was Spo. Lou is easily the worst Coach to win a championship. As great a passer LBJ was, him being so ball dominant affected a lot of factors. First, that ball isn't moving the way it had been in Miami and far from great teams like the Warriors or the Spurs that's why they were always behind in assist category in most series. Lebron being that ball dominant also makes his teammates think twice if they need to shoot or what. They loose confidence. They hardly get into rtyhm. They are not allowed to make their own plays. Most become catch and shoot types which was never their asset. Lebron being the system himself also creates chaos everytime he's not playing because 90% of the time the play runs through him. I love James and I wish he had a great Coach.
Many guys had great seasons based on stats. Wilt once averaged 50 points and Rusell Westbrook averaged triple doubles. The problem is they didn't win a title in those seasons. They didn't make their teammates better either. Their stats didn't help. There's a lot of ways to make your teammates better. The most important factor is to probably lead by example. There had been great players who would play great defense, hustle, rebound, teach and all and they made their teammates better. I could be 100 percent wrong but I really feel Lebron James does not have to do as much. Lebron is a great passer but others need to be involved. His team needs to have some flow.
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