Who is the face of the NBA? Is Tyrese Haliburton a superstar? Is it bad for the league to have two small-market teams in the Finals? These are all questions that have been asked ad nauseum recently. They have dominated the conversation and distracted from more interesting topics. Like, how exactly did the Pacers go from 10-15 in early December to within two games of a title? And LeBron James, for one, is fed up with this.
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Nevertheless, much of NBA discourse has been diluted down to conversations around trivial issues. The NBA world is filled with this kind of content. So much so that many fans wondered if there would ever be something that did the opposite, zigging where others zagged, focusing on issues that were actually interesting..
Mind the Game, the podcast cohosted by LeBron James and Steve Nash, always tries to discuss the game in a thoughtful, nuanced way. With six MVPs between them, they’re uniquely qualified to answer the tough questions with precision and expertise. That expertise was put to the test in the most recent episode as they fielded mailbag questions from fans.
Rings do not define a player
One of the questions, sent in by a listener named Dustin Nielson, asked “Why is ring culture so much more prevalent in the NBA than any other sport?” LeBron, who’s been victimized more than anyone by the hot take nature of today’s NBA discourse, said with a rueful laugh, “Oh my goodness, I do not know the answer. I wish I had the answer to this, but I’m not sure, man.”
“Ring culture” refers to the idea of boiling down a player’s entire career into how many championships they won. Many feel this is a reductive and simplistic way of viewing anyone’s accomplishments. LeBron agrees. Once he collected himself, he cited examples from basketball and other sports to prove why ring culture is a stupid way of evaluating players.
“You sit here and tell me that Allen Iverson and Charles Barkley and Steve Nash weren’t unbelievable. ‘Oh, they can’t be discussed with these guys because this guy won one ring or won two rings.’ It’s just weird to me, it’s like saying Peyton Manning can’t be in the same room with [Tom] Brady or [Patrick] Mahomes because he only has one ring. They don’t never discuss that in their sport.”
Celebrate accomplishments, not championships
LeBron went on to name other all-time greats, such as Dan Marino and Barry Bonds, as guys who are among the best to ever play their respective sports, yet never achieved the ultimate team success. “I don’t understand where it came from, I don’t know where it started. We have to appreciate more of what guys have been able to accomplish.”
There couldn’t be two more perfect guys to have this discussion than LeBron and Nash. They represent the two extremes of the ring culture debate. Nash is, by any measure, one of the greatest point guards of all-time, and the first one to win back-to-back MVP awards since Magic Johnson. But he never did win a championship.
Then there’s LeBron, who has four titles, but is often seen as being on the wrong end of the GOAT debate with Michael Jordan for the simple fact that MJ was able to win six rings in his career. For some reason, when it comes to LeBron, losing in the conference finals is somehow better than making the Finals ten times. That is as absurd as it sounds.
Why NBA is different from other sports
Perhaps ring culture is so prevalent in the NBA because one superstar player has such an outsized impact on the game. In football, a quarterback is the most important player, but they’re on the bench half the time. As great as he was, Tom Brady wouldn’t have nearly as many rings if not for Bill Belichick’s defense. Barry Bonds only got four at-bats per game.
The best basketball players in the world are able to put their imprint on the game on every possession. Even so, it’s still unfair to pin all of a team’s successes and failures on one guy. LeBron couldn’t have beaten the Warriors without Kyrie Irving. Even Jordan couldn’t have toppled the Spurs without Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.
Ring culture debates will no doubt continue. But smart fans will always analyze and appreciate the game in a deeper way.
