“Does LeBron James really make everyone else better?”: NBA fan points out how The King’s teammates have underperformed alongside him on the Lakers, Cavaliers and elsewhere

A Twitter post by an NBA fan shows how players who left LeBron James last year are having much better season than Lakers.

Entering into the season, LeBron James and the Lakers were seen as one of the favorites to win it all. However, with only a game remaining, they have been eliminated for playoff contention. While the King did have an exceptional season, it’s the rest of the team that let him and Laker nation down.

Also Read: “LeBron James could be angling for a Luka Doncic team-up!”: Brian Windhorst gives terrifying prediction on the King’s future after Lakers fail to make play-in

With that in mind, we take its high time to explore the age-old narrative “LeBron makes his teammates better”. At first, the idea of questioning such a statement just seems wrong. Especially since the 4x champion is seen as the guy always making the right ‘basketball play’. As a result, it should only make sense that his teammates benefit from his presence.

However, a recent post by an NBA fan might just show why the notion that LeBron makes his teammates is false. Let’s get into it, shall we?

How players have a taken a back seat to accommodate LeBron James.

When it comes to the GOAT debate, LeBron Fanboys have held the “elevating teammates argument” against Michael Jordan. However, that seems nothing more than a social media driven narrative. Let’s explore it a bit more in detail.

The King joined a prime Dwyane Wade, following which his decline was immediate and precipitous as the duo really never ever learned how to share the ball. And the third part of the big three, Chris Bosh had to take a complete backseat and turn into a 3 & D guy to accommodate LeBron James.

Let’s talk about his second tenure with the Cavs. Kevin Love was a 20-point, 20 rebound guys with the Timberwolves. The now-Cavs sixth man was miles and miles better in Minnesota than he ever was in Cleveland, and playing with LeBron actually made him worse.

How LeBron James’ Lakers teammates have gone on to do better.

In fact, let’s explore his tenure with the La Lakers. His first season with the Purple and Gold was a failure, with them missing the playoffs. If anything, his arrival prohibited the growth of young stars like Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram. In fact, BI went to become an All-Star after getting traded to the Pelicans for Anthony Davis.

Talking about last summer, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, KCP were traded for Russell Westbrook, and all 3 are having better statistical seasons this year on the Wizards. In fact, a number of guys who were part of the Lakers last year but received little to no playing time are now valuable role players on playoff teams this season. For example, the likes of Markieff Morris, Wesley Mathews, Andre Drummond.

However, it is obvious that a role players’ or even a secondary star’s stats for that matter, will increase once you leave LeBron James, a player who is extremely ball dominant, and go to a team, where will you get more touches, as seen in the case of Kuzma and Ingram.

In conclusion, LeBron James really doesn’t makes his teammates that much better. If anything, they take a backseat and change their style of play to suit the King.

Also Read: “LeBron James shouldn’t even sniff 2nd team All-NBA!”: Skip Bayless unloads on Lakers star after franchise’s atrocious season finally crashes and burns for good