LeBron James – Still the same player if not playing for Miami

Dave McMenaminESPN Staff WriterNovember 6, 2023 01:46 pm EST4 min read

MIAMI — Resting in his baseline seats after Monday’s shooting session, with his former team’s “Heat Culture” slogan painted on the half court in front of him, LeBron James reflected on how much his time with the team meant to him now What it means to have a career that spans more than two decades. decades.

“I think whether I came here or not, I would still be at this level,” said the Los Angeles Lakers star, now entering his 21st season. “Let’s not get it twisted: My four years here, it’s been fantastic. I’ve loved everything about it. Love this franchise, this franchise is top-notch, it’s one of the best franchises in the world .

“But as far as my career, personally, my career is going to be my career because I know how much I put into the game, I know how much I worked to be as great as I can. ( But) in terms of what I’ve learned here, it’s second to none, that’s for sure.”

James arrived in South Beach in 2010 at the age of 25. In his first seven seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he won zero championships, two MVPs and one appearance in the NBA Finals. By the time he left Miami in 2014, he had improved his championship totals to 2 championships, 4 MVPs, 5 Finals appearances, 2 Finals MVPs, and in 2012-13 (his second season) Played an important role in the Heat’s 27-game winning streak. -The longest winning streak in league history.

“I’m here for one reason and one reason only, and that’s to win a championship,” James said. “That’s my only goal. That’s the only reason I’m working with (Dwyane) Wade and (Chris) Bosh. Because I feel like I can’t do it in Cleveland. We can’t do it. … .I tried to recruit players to come to Cleveland. I tried to help the guys upstairs, but it didn’t happen. So I had the opportunity to be a free agent, so I did what I thought was the best thing, not only for my career, but It was that point in time for me.”

James said this was a formative time in his life, not just his career, as he left his only home in Northeast Ohio to settle in South Florida.

“It was a culture change for me,” James said. “People talk about the ‘Heat culture,’ and it was a time of cultural change. For the first time in my life, it changed everything in my life. Being able to come here and be able to learn and play alongside UD Wade (Udonis Hasler) Tom) and Spoelstra (Erik Spoelstra) — guys who have won championships — it’s definitely great to be a part of that, for sure.”

Miami will donate their “City Edition” uniforms when they host the Lakers, which will have “Heat Culture” stitched on them to complement the specialized arena where they will play, including a message written in big letters on the lane: “THE MOST Hard work. “The best conditioned, most professional, selfless, toughest, meanest, dirtiest team in the NBA. “

James included the Heat on a short list of what he considers to be model teams in all sports — including the NBA’s Lakers and San Antonio Spurs, as well as the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots — he It is said that a strong team culture can only exist if the players agree with it.

“Obviously it starts at the top, but ultimately it’s the guys in the locker room who hold them accountable,” he said. “You can have information coming from the top, but if players don’t follow it, or go the extra mile in the locker room and then apply it on the field, apply it off the field and be model citizens, or whatever the case may be, then that’s Still doesn’t matter.”

This isn’t the first time James has mentioned the Steelers’ name this season. When the Lakers lost 120-101 to the Orlando Magic on Saturday to drop to 3-3 to begin their road trip, he liked the swing between the Lakers’ early season performance and Pittsburgh’s performance so far.

“We’re like the Pittsburgh Steelers right now,” James said. “The Pittsburgh Steelers have yet to outscore or outperform any opponent this season, yet they have a winning record.”

In fact, Pittsburgh is 5-3, but has an overall score of 163-133, accumulating 2,228 yards on offense and 3,018 yards on defense. Likewise, the Lakers may be sitting at .500, but they trail by 61 points in the first quarter — their worst performance in six games since the 1964-65 Detroit Pistons. Los Angeles also ranks 29th in 3-point field goal percentage (29.7 percent), 28th in both catch-and-shoot 3-point percentage and open 3-point field goal percentage, according to data collected by Second Spectrum.