A former teammate of LeBron James recently said that he doesn’t believe the Los Angeles Lakers superstar currently should be considered one of the franchise’s all-time greats.
Richard Jefferson, who played with James on the Cleveland Cavaliers, made the claim.
“LeBron James has not done enough as a Laker to be on that list,” Jefferson said. “Bron been there now — this is his fourth season, right? They’ve been in there four seasons. Two years, they haven’t made the postseason. One year, they lost in the first round. And one year, they won a championship.”
In truth, Jefferson has been pretty vocal when it comes to describing the greatness of James. His opinions on the veteran likely come from seeing him on a nightly basis during their time together with the Cavaliers in addition to years of playing against the superstar.
One reason why Jefferson likely made those previous comments praising James is that it was James who led the Cavs to the franchise’s only NBA title in 2016. Jefferson was a bench player on that squad and picked up a championship ring along the way.
In contrast to that lone title, the Lakers’ wealth of NBA titles has been accomplished by a stunning array of NBA legends. The legacies of players like Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant make it hard for any player to rank among the Lakers elite.
Yet, even if James never manages to be considered part of an iconic list of Lakers legends, his NBA legacy ensures that he’ll be considered among the greatest basketball players ever.
