“Have Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson! Jesus Christ can coach, they’re gonna lose”: LeBron James discusses impact of culture with Manchester United star Marcus Rashford

Generational talents like LeBron James and Michael Jordan can develop a winning culture in a losing team, but only if the franchise is willing to move in that direction.

How much everyone hates the man, they cannot simply ignore the fact having the likes of LeBron James in a team not just makes it a winning team, it changes the culture of that franchise forever.

In a recent sit-down on his show The Shop, James had European soccer club Manchester United’s star forward Marcus Rashford and actor Daniel Kaluuya alongside his regular cast.

Both James and Rashford are the stars of historically gigantic teams, and both Lakers and United haven’t been even close to their reputation for a considerable amount of time now.

They discussed how much the culture of an organization matters more than the players representing it and how could a single person like coach Alex Ferguson or even a player can start that cultural shift.

Also read: LeBron James joins Kobe Bryant and Kareem-Abdul Jabbar amongst others as the 9th player to play his 20th NBA season

LeBron James believes a winning culture can be instilled in everyone, even a player who has been in a losing team throughout his career

When actor Daniel Kaluuya asked The King whether a player from a losing culture can do well in a winning team, James tried explaining how a franchise’ winning habit and culture determine how they would perform and not the superstars they have in their team.

“You can have guys that come from different clubs and different teams, and they’ve played losing basketball for years. You can have Jordan, Shaq, Allen Iverson, and Jesus Christ can be their coach, they’re gonna lose. It’s literally, like the culture.”

Lebron speaking on the notion of building a culture of success pic.twitter.com/P96YBuAR7z

— Stop Savin Chat (@FootballRenais1) July 15, 2022

As LeBron said, cultural change doesn’t need a plethora of superstars, it just needs somebody like him and intent from the organization to start being a winning team, championships come along the way.

The same happened with the Bulls after drafting MJ in 1984, with Houston after getting Hakeem Olajuwon the same year, with the Spurs after drafting Tim Duncan and with the Warriors after drafting Stephen Curry.

Take the Phoenix Suns of the past couple of seasons for example. As soon as they brought in Chris Paul into their mix of a potentially great team that hasn’t seen a winning culture for a long time, they became one of the best teams in the league.

Also read: “How in the world did LeBron James manage to find Ilgauskas despite that tight angle?!”: When the then-21 y/o Cavs star dished a beautiful pass in the 1st round of the 2006 Playoffs

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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