LeBron James is one of the clear leaders of what has become known as the player empowerment era in the NBA.
In this day and age, star players have found the ability to determine their destinies by forcing trades to new teams, joining forces with other superstars and winning championships along the way.
Due to James’ role as a leader in that shift, NBA legend Julius Erving has declared that the four-time MVP is not on either of his top-two all-time NBA teams. He said that James’ role in creating superteams served as the primary reason for his absence.
“He’s the guy who has led the charge in terms of super teams…”@JuliusErving doesn't have LeBron on his top-two All-Time NBA teams 👀
Check out Posted Up with @ChrisBHaynes ➡️ https://t.co/LIqxEaKxVO pic.twitter.com/IROWlOSYkT
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 27, 2021
It’s certainly an argument, but it may not be a very good one. As Chris Haynes points out in the interview, it has been quite common for championship teams to have “two, three or even sometimes four All-Stars.”
Oddly, it seems as though Erving holds it against James that he has had a major role in trying to help craft the rosters around him.
Ultimately, this seems like just another incident of an older star from a previous era not understanding the game as it is currently played. At the moment, it has proven to be something of a necessity to have multiple All-Stars on a roster if a team wants a strong chance of even making the playoffs, let alone winning a title.
Though James may be absent on Erving’s top two teams, he probably isn’t too worried about it. After all, he’s on the road to recovery from a high ankle sprain and will soon restart his quest for a fifth career title.
Erving, of course, only won one NBA title during his storied career.
