Lebron James has never been shy about admitting he holds grudges. Chris Broussard joined FS1’s First Things First this morning and said that James, a player legitimately discussed as one of the best to ever play in the NBA, is known to make lists of those that have wronged him or doubted his greatness. That is why it shouldn’t be surprising that James told Rachel Nichols “I want my damn respect” on Sunday night when claiming his fourth NBA Championship with his third different team.
Broussard said the message was likely largely driven by media narratives. James was second in this year’s NBA MVP voting. He was nowhere near winner Giannis Antetokunmpo, who scored 84% of the first place votes.
James ire may also have been driven by recent comments from three high profile NBA analysts and former players Broussard speculated. In recent weeks ESPN’s Paul Pierce and Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith of TNT’s Inside the NBA all said they would not consider James amongst the five best NBA players in history.
It’s easy to point the finger at the media when an athlete talks about not getting enough respect, but Chris Broussard, who admits to being part of the 84% that favorited Giannis’s performance in the regular season, says that James’s message was likely aimed at his peers.
“I think that LeBron was taking a subtle, gentle shot at the haters. Look, just a week ago, Kyrie Irving, who LeBron helped win or led to a championship, said ‘I didn’t trust him to take the last shot at the end of a game.'”
Certainly LeBron didn’t take kindly to a former teammate saying such a thing, but that wasn’t the ultimate source of LeBron’s ire according to Broussard. He speculated that LeBron might have been verbally subtweeting Kawhi Leonard, who not only turned down the opportunity to team with LeBron as part of the Lakers, but then built his own super team with the Clippers in the same building LeBron plays in.
“I know when LeBron talked to Anthony Davis, he told Anthony Davis ‘Look, if you come to the Lakers, we’re gonna win a championship and your NBA platform and legacy will change and grow forever.’ And I know he told Kawhii the same thing, and Kawhii not only defied him, but actually challenged him. Went to the little brother down the hall and then mad commercials saying ‘I’m the king of LA!'”.
The media loves to pick apart LeBron James. This NBA season, Lebron James seemed to be under an even more intense microscope as blogs like Barstool and Outkick routinely took shots at him for the NBA’s business relationship with China. The premier of The Last Dance in April on ESPN reignited the LeBron vs. Jordan debate with critics claiming that the documentary proved James could never be on Jordan’s level.
According to Broussard, those things made for great stories and online debates. Ultimately though, they mattered more to fans than to Bron himself.