It's no secret that LeBron James has been the undisputed face of the NBA for two decades now, and it appears as if he's not going away anytime soon, thankfully. (Then again, was there really any doubt?)
But the amount of influence James has on the NBA doesn't just apply to fans, the media, and the entire world as we know it, but it even applies to players in the league too. Everyone looks up to James when it comes to the biggest decisions the league has to face. Look no further than this story that took place in the 2020 NBA bubble, as told by Austin Rivers:
LeBron’s power in this league is incredible pic.twitter.com/rq8FFYYN3Q
— ²³𝙻𝚎𝙱𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚜🏀☄️🌎💞 (@BronGotGame) May 27, 2023
“When I was in the bubble, we had a meeting, a players only meeting, to ask whether we wanted to continue playing or not. This is after the Bucks just decided to not show up and not play that one game,” Austin recalled in his Off Guard podcast. “Everybody was giving their opinions but nobody was listening. We were all just waiting to see if LeBron was going to play or not. And if he wasn't, then people were just gonna move on and not want to play.”
“Udonis Haslem, the long time Miami Heat veteran and a former teammate of LeBron, stepped up to the microphone and says, ‘Ay yo Big Bro, what we doing? ‘Cause if you ain't playing, the Heat are out.' Then he drops the mic.”
Of course, the rest was history. The NBA would go on to continue playing in the bubble despite the tense circumstances. The aforementioned Heat would meet James and the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2020 NBA Finals, with LA eventually winning in six games.
“LeBron is so important that if he doesn't play, nobody really cares,” Rivers added. “People just don't want him to go.”
Rivers' sentiment is something that many fans seem to agree with. So with James reportedly set to return to the Lakers next season, it's safe to say we should all appreciate his greatness while he's still here.
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