LeBron James doesn’t deserve to be traded to the Warriors

Three days ago, ESPN’s Michael Wilbon assessed the state of play in the NBA and put together the evil idea that the Golden State Warriors should trade for LeBron James. Stephen A. Smith, Shannon Sharpe and Kendrick Perkins dove headlong into the thought experiment on Tuesday. First takewith Smith “winning” because he created the most clickable title.

Of course, James would help the Warriors in their quest to return to the NBA Finals. Steve Kerr’s team is 14-9 on the year so far and is in possession of the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Adding the best or second-best basketball player of all time – one with plenty left in the tank at age 39 – would provide a boost on the court and go down in history as one of the greatest great blockbuster exchanges in all sports. This would also give LeBron a more realistic chance for a deep playoff run, as the Warriors are already a more complete team than the Lakers.

On the other hand, this would create a pretty awkward situation since Bronny James, LeBron’s son, is on the Lakers roster.

However, Smith doesn’t want to see any of that.

“I don’t want to see it because LeBron James doesn’t deserve it,” he said. “Absolutely not.”

This strong statement elicited a visceral reaction from Sharpe while Perkins simply seemed resigned to his fate to hear why.

Why Smith?

“Stay there in Los Angeles. You won a championship in the bubble. I understand the next year you lost in the first round. You had Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. You had a Kyle Kuzma. You had a Montrezl Harell. You You had an Alex Caruso What are you doing? You let all these cats go because you wanted your boy Russell Westbrook.

Smith pointed out that James derailed the Lakers’ mobility with many moves he wanted to make.

“We are so captivated by his greatness as a player that we don’t pay enough attention to the power of his influence and the moves he forces (the Lakers) to make that serve to derail a franchise the way he does. made in Los Angeles.

ESPN’s lead voice concluded by once again telling James to “stay his a– in California.”

It’s good television, although people could certainly argue that not enough attention is paid to James, the general manager. It’s a story that’s been going on for over a decade and that’s one of the things that struck him because there’s not much else to hold on to. Smith is not wrong when he says that this specific part of James’ power was not maximized.

But it’s also hard to imagine what other players would deserve to play alongside Stephen Curry and compete for a championship. As of now, not everyone in the NBA has achieved a fraction of the gains and merits that James had achieved during his incredible career.