Four-Time NBA Champion Discusses the Toxicity of Ring Culture In the NBA
Lebron James on his podcast, Mind The Game with Steve Nash. Discussed his views on ring culture in the NBA. He made headlines by brushing it off as ridiculous. He said that winning a ring is a team accomplishment. "I don't know why it's discussed so much in our sport and why it's the end-all, be-all of everything,” James said. As you can imagine, this drew considerable criticism from sports reporters and fans alike regarding James' hypocrisy.
James saying it's weird certain players aren't discussed as greats because of ring culture is changing the narrative to fit his point of view. He knows the reason why players like Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson aren’t in the same conversation or “room” as him. Stephen A. Smith correctly pointed out on First Take that it’s the reason he left for Miami. Winning a championship meant so much to James that he left the team twice for it. He left Cleveland for Miami in 2010 and returned to Cleveland from Miami in 2014. Tyrese Haliburton, despite having a strained calf, will look to prevent the Thunder from earning a championship. Haliburton understands, just like James, what a championship means for him and his legacy. It's what separates a top 15-30 player from the others.
Being a Los Angeles Lakers player or fan has always been about championships because that's what we've been accustomed to. Hearing that from James makes you wonder what the greatest Laker of all time, Kobe Bryant, would have said to such a comment. I don’t think it's a coincidence that James never made such comments when Kobe was around. The reason I think he was so bold to make such a comment is that I believe James is starting to realize he's a year or two away from retirement, and the best he can hope for now is to tie Michael Jordan. Jordan has six rings. LeBron has four. I don’t think LeBron will surpass him; at best, they will tie. Realizing that James is making questionable comments, he will retract his words if he ever wins another championship.
