It's official, he's never beating the ring chasing allegations.
NBA Thread 2026-2027
Robert Horry has entered the chat.
We need a new word or term for “ring chasing” though. It’s “ring chasing” with the caveat of a legitimate market he has interest in.
If he really wanted to ring chase he could have taken this money in San Antonio, OKC, New York… heck Minnesota, Denver, Indiana
Sorry has 3. LeBron would be the first
Half those teams weren't interested in him, and the other half aren't as good a fit. He 100% took the job that makes the most sense for winning a title. Not that they'll necessarily succeed.
Ok - find this fascinating. Because I’m not really sure I’m even disagreeing with you.
But if some of these teams truly “didnt have interest in him” for him signing at $4 million a year - then those GMs should be fired on the spot.
Okc could have slotted LeBron into the spot dort vacated by just moving Williams up. San Antonio brought in Tobias Harris for $15 million annually (4x as much as LeBron). Pacers paid Kelly Oubre more - Jarace Walker gets paid 2x as much as LeBron. Denver pays cam Johnson 6x as much as LeBron.
If LeBrons camp truly called up San Antonio or OKC or Denver and they said “no interest” then someone needs to be publicly ridiculed - OKC and San Antonio without a doubt would have been better title odds for LeBron than Philly IMO
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I think a big part of the strategy was also going back to the Eastern Conference. OKC & SA remain the betting favorites to win it all. Going through either of them in the playoffs is going to be a tall (literally) order.
His best role at this stage is facilitator, NYK weren’t going to put the ball in his hands. He fits pretty well as a point forward in Philly. They will be able to spread the floor with everyone, and create a lot of lanes to the hoop for whichever guy finds himself open.
The fit makes a ton of sense.
Money isn’t really a thing to LeBron. Dude is a billionaire.
The whole “ring-chasing” narrative is weird… Who isn’t chasing the ring? Why keep playing for any other reason? The guy will turn 42 this year… His years of being the best guy on a Championship team are over.
One thing college basketball has without a doubt over the NBA is celebrating accomplishments outside of just a national championship.
Drives me insane we’ve boiled so many of these awesome NBA players down to merely “but how many rings bro?!”.
And candidly, it’s helped kill regular season interest. And I say that as a huge NBA guy
That might be his best role, but he's not playing that role no matter where he goes. That's the problem. He wants to win a championship as the guy, not as a role player. That was on display with the Lakers, where they played better when he wasn't on the floor and they were able to function as Luka's team.
Ring chasing doesn't mean wanting to win. It means moving around to try and win. Like when KD went to Golden State, an already established championship caliber team.
It's not a value judgement, just an observation. Steph isn't leaving GS to find an easier path to a championship. Jordan didn't join up with Malone and Stockton when he un-retired to form a super team.
Another example: if Harden re-signs with Cleveland, that's not ring chasing, even though they're a good team that can compete. If he takes a huge pay cut to sign with the Timberwolves though, that'd be ring chasing.