Utah Jazz legend John Stockton does not appreciate the way Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James conducts business. Stockton discussed his thoughts on James' style of team management with the Lakers during an interview with DNP-CD Sports.
“It’d be maddening as a teammate to know that you can be expendable for one of his guys that he thinks he needs to play with,” said Stockton.
John Stockton would seemingly be referencing the many times that LeBron James teams have undergone in-season overhauls, with James often being perceived as the ringmaster in these types of transactions.
The most recent example of this occurred in 2019. That summer, LeBron James and the Lakers unloaded much of their young depth in exchange for Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans.
In 2018, when James was on the Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland essentially did the opposite. That trade deadline, the Cavs traded away several older players in exchange for fresh legs.
Stockton is not the first person to criticize James for this perceived influence.
James has long been mockingly called “Le-GM” in NBA social media circles. The nickname references his teams' propensity to enter high-stakes trades at a moment's notice.
It certainly might take a mental toll to play in this kind of environment. However, the moves have yielded impressive results. James is a four-time NBA champion, and had a mind-boggling eight straight NBA Finals appearances from 2011-2018.
At some point, perhaps Stockton and other LeBron James critics will just have to understand and accept that business is business. Sometimes, the grass really is greener.
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