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While the future of LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have been in question ever since the comments made from his representation about doing the best for himself in wanting to compete, there has been vitriol towards the 40-year-old. Even after the Lakers star James opted into his $52.6 million player option, there would even be some people calling him selfish as Stan Van Gundy gives his opinion on the matter.
Van Gundy would be on “Nothing Personal with David Samson,” where the question was brought up about the reaction of James being selfish for taking the most money he can. The former head coach would go into how James gets a negative reaction for every decision and situation he's involved him, even stemming back to when he decided to join the Miami Heat on national television in 2010.
“LeBron’s gotten a little hate for a long time for a lot of different things,” Van Gundy said. “Whether it was his decision to come to Miami that he announced on TV, whether it was bumping into Erik Spoelstra. Whatever it is, LeBron’s gotten a lot of hate for a guy who’s had the best career of any NBA player, ever. And we can argue who the best player has been in the NBA, but it’s hard to argue that anyone’s had a better career.
Stan Van Gundy has Michael Jordan reason for LeBron James' hate
With some questioning the motivations of James with the Lakers after the recent comments and events, Van Gundy would speak about the clean track record the player has had. Van Gundy would further question the hate received by James, even connecting it to Michael Jordan, whom the two are compared to time and time again.
Even going as far as possibly entertaining the idea that James is as good as Jordan, spawned the negative reaction towards James as Van Gundy would argue.
“The most amazing thing to me is, this guy has been a national figure since he’s been in eighth grade, what’s the biggest off-court controversy you’ve got on this guy? This guy has done nothing except represent the game of basketball and the league well. And yet, there’s this hate for him,” Van Gundy said. “I have never understood the negativity around him. I think a lot of it was there’s so many people out there who just revered Michael Jordan and the fact that people would question, ‘Is LeBron as good?’ led to a hatred of LeBron instead of an appreciation of what he’s done. And I think that’s unfortunate.”
It's hard to deny the fact that James has accomplished what few players have done in the game, which is why some usually consider him one of the two greatest stars of the game, along with Jordan. Consequently, James looks to continue his elite level of play with Los Angeles after finishing third in the West but being eliminated early in the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
