Former LeBron James teammate Iman Shumpert explains how the King ruined the NBA as a basketball league, far before Kevin Durant ever did
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LeBron James has done quite a bit over his hallowed career.
4 rings, 4 MVPs, 4 Finals-MVPs and so, so much more, that frankly, if we listed off each and every achievement, this would be less of an article and more of an essay.
But, as admirable that all may be, we’re not here to talk about James’s list of achievements overall. No, no, no, we’re here to talk about his moves to earn his first-ever ring, what it did to the NBA, what it did it to one Kevin Durant, and most importantly here, what Iman Shumpert had to say about it all very, very recently.
So, without further ado, let’s dive straight into it, shall we?
Iman Shumpert believes Kevin Durant is wrongfully accused of ruining the NBA, the real criminal here is LeBron James
For those unfamiliar with what’s going with that subheading, let us give you a little retrospective of a mid, to early 2010s NBA.
Firstly, in the 2016 offseason, you have a prime Kevin Durant who chose to join the very team that had beat him in the most recent postseason, the Golden State Warriors. And to Golden State’s amazement at the time, this team was so strong, they made the NBA so boring, it became damn near unbearable to watch until he left.
This move was widely considered to be the obliteration of the beauty of basketball, with KD going from the most loved guy in the NBA, to being branded a snake. Legend says the Power Rangers are STILL jealous of the speed of that transformation.
But, while many still consider this to be the worst sin in the history of the NBA, and plop it onto Durant’s shoulders, Iman Shumpert can’t quite help but disagree.
Recently he made an appearance on the show VladTV, with host DJ Vlad. And while the two spoke about Kevin Durant’s sacrilege against basketball purity, here is what he had to say.
“Lebron ruined [basketball] when he left Cleveland and went to Miami…we looked around like ‘everybody cool with this?’ That opens up the mind of somebody like KD…one of the greats just did it and now you gotta compete with it. I can’t say “KD just stay here in this small market” cause you not gonna beat Miami”
Shumpert further added that this was the first time he looked at something and wailed out about how it was cheating. But of course, as we all know now, it didn’t matter.
In 2010, a 26-year-old LeBron James, who was exasperated at the Cavaliers’ incompetency at the time, decided to jump ship and make a superteam with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. And with them, he did a whole lot of winning, including his first two championship rings.
All-in-all though, we can’t help but agree with Iman Shumpert here.
Yes, KD’s switch may have arguably made more waves and been more impactful on the NBA. But, it’s really LeBron James who set the trend on this one.
