Los Angeles Lakers veteran LeBron James criticized the ring culture in the NBA and said it is not fair to judge a player by the number of championships he wins in a team sport. James is regarded as one of the best players in the history of the NBA and has won a total of four NBA rings in his glorious career.
It is often noted that the greatness of a player is judged by the number of rings he wins in his career, which is a tad unfair in a team sport.
“Trying to nitpick an individual because he was not able to win a team game or a team match — or whatever the case may be — I don’t know where it started, but it’s a long conversation, especially when it comes to me individually,” James said on his “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash.
“It’s so weird. It’s never enough.”
James is a four-time NBA MVP and the league’s leading career scorer. Furthermore, he has reached the NBA finals on 10 occasions, out of which he won four.
Meanwhile, Steve Nash didn’t win a single NBA title, but he was a two-time MVP.
“I don’t know why it’s discussed so much in our sport and why it’s the end-all, be-all of everything,” James said. “Like OK, ‘You weren’t a great player [because] you never won a championship.’ Or if you won one, you can’t be in the same conversation with this person. … You sit here and tell me Allen Iverson and Charles Barkley and Steve Nash f—ing weren’t unbelievable?
“Like, ‘Oh, they can’t be talked about or discussed with these guys because this guy won one ring, or won two rings.’ It’s just weird to me.”
James added it would make more sense to judge the team on the number of titles it wins rather than taking into account a player’s accomplishments.
“I don’t understand where it came from. I don’t know where it started,” he said. “I just hope we have to appreciate more of what guys have been able to accomplish, what guys have been able to do.
“A ring is a team accomplishment, and if you happen to have a moment where you’re able to share that with your team, that should be discussed. ‘This team was the greatest team,’ or ‘that team’ — you can have those conversations.”
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