Los Angeles Lakers legend LeBron James engaged in a fruitful conversation with fellow league veteran JJ Redick to discuss what bothers him the most in today’s game. In the latest episode of the ‘Mind The Game’ podcast, the 4x NBA champion admitted that the one-on-one mentality of today’s generation of players is what irks him the most.
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Speaking to JJ Redick on the podcast, James said the current narrative of ‘having the bag’ annoys him the most. “It bothers the f**k out of me,” said the Lakers legend. He added, “Everyone thinks just because you get a favorable matchup means one-on-one time. ‘Let’s play ones,’ that’s all you hear the kids talk about now.”
LBJ believed that with such narratives in the foray, basketball has lost its innate nature of being a team sport. Players are more concerned about individual matchups and facing rival players one-on-one than playing in a five-person team. “What the f**k is this? This is not Jordan vs. Bird Nintendo. It’s five on five,” added James while discussing the matter.
Teams will send help for their star players, which makes it difficult for players to focus only on one-on-ones to read plays and successfully prevent the opposition team from scoring. James seemed somewhat disappointed with the lack of a visible team spirit among players, who, in a way, fail to instill confidence in their teammates by only focusing on individual plays.
“Most great teams are going to send help, and can you make the right reads? Can you instill confidence in your teammates to when you’ve scored twice in that favorable matchup, do you know that the double is coming? … Some guys don’t wanna learn and won’t learn because they wanna play ones,” James told Redick.
LeBron has maintained his great understanding of the game over the past 21 years, and he can reflect on such experiences for the fans. The 20-time All-Star is averaging 25.4 points, 8.1 assists, and 7.2 rebounds, per game this season. James is regarded by many as one of the most unselfish players on the floor, which has helped him achieve significant success in the league over time. Moreover, it is clear that the King is not fond of modern influences in the league and promotes basketball as a time game.
