Grind City Media’s Lang Whitaker and Kelcey Wright Johnson weigh in on the most pertinent news from around the NBA. What’s lit? What’s lame? Find out each week right here.
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2020 9:40 AM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: IMHO
Kelcey:
Let’s begin this week by saying congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers, your 2020 NBA Champions. And any of the haters out there saying this title deserves an asterisk, just put that away. The Lakers won a title in the most stressful season imaginable. It wasn’t easy for anyone, but of all the teams that went to The Bubble, the Lakers performed their task better than anyone else. Congrats to them on a job well done.
Before we turn the page and start to look at how the Lakers will look next season, whenever that is, let’s stop for a second and appreciate LeBron’s greatness. The man is in his mid-30s, and he continues to get better every single season. It’s really unbelievable. I remember watching him play in high school and thinking he was going to be great in the NBA, but I don’t think anyone could have predicted this level of excellence, sustained for this long, with no signs of slowing down!
After the Finals ended, I said on Twitter that to me, Michael Jordan will always be the greatest of all-time. But at the same time, LeBron is the best basketball player I’ve ever seen. Which is to say, to me greatness isn’t directly connected to ability or skill. MJ did unprecedented things on and off the court, and he changed the game forever. LeBron has also managed to create an incredible off-court legacy, but he is doing it in the shadow of what MJ did and has done.
Kelcey, where do you place LeBron in the pantheon of greatness?
From: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2020 12:07 PM
To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: Re: IMHO
Lang,
In full transparency, I have no idea what you mean by that. I was actually having this conversation with some of my friends that other day and I think the consensus among us is that we grew up post-Jordan, so we didn’t get to see him but everyone always just told us he is the GOAT. We didn’t get to make that decision for ourselves (although watching The Last Dance this year helped us understand).
But for most millennials, LeBron is the player we grew up with and we get to see play and hit milestones and win championships. He is our GOAT.
One of the biggest arguments you hear is that Jordan has more championships — so do championships directly relate to greatness? Because Danny Green and JR Smith are working their way up the greatness scale then. Or do we measure success purely on stats? Because then LeBron tips the scale, right? Or is it some combination of the two, plus the players’ impact on their team? Defining greatness isn’t so black-and-white, in my opinion. But we don’t need to go that deep (haha).
But whatever generation you grew up in and however you measure success — if you’re a basketball fan — both Jordan and LeBron are in the top three of people who have ever touched that round, leather ball.
The question that I pose to you though, Lang, is where AD ranks in our greatness talks?
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2020 12:56 PM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: Re: IMHO
It’s definitely generational, at least partly, and I get it that there are large groups of people who never saw Jordan play at his peak. But to me greatness isn’t only about titles and rings. It’s also about off-court impact and a player’s influence. And the phrase “Be Like Mike” still holds up. Heck, LeBron is literally re-making Space Jam! So like I said, LeBron is the best basketball player I’ve ever seen. But to me, MJ was and will always be the greatest.
As for Anthony Davis, the other night, as soon as the Lakers had clinched their title, I grabbed my phone and started doing some research. AD is 27 years old, I discovered thanks to the Google machine. To me, the greatest power forward of all-time is Tim Duncan. By the time Duncan was 27, he was already a two-time MVP, and had won two titles with two Finals MVP awards. Different situations and different types of players, I know, but to me, this is what we are measuring AD against. I’m not even sure I’d put AD ahead of Karl Malone at this point. I know AD is probably going to play for another decade and continue to accumulate awards and numbers, but for now, I think he’s in that top tier at PF. How high he climbs? The jury is still out on that one.
In the meantime, Kelcey, as both the Lakers and the Heat head into the offseason, it’s already time to start thinking about their futures. The Lakers managed to put together a bunch of vets playing on affordable deals, and the Heat have a bunch of young players with a couple of vets. Goran Dragic will be a free agent this offseason, as well as guys like Jae Crowder, while the Lakers could lose key role players like Dwight Howard or Markieff Morris. Put on your GM hat and be Pat Riley or Rob Pelinka, and tell me how you’d keep this teams at the top of their Conferences heading into next season.
From: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2020 8:17 PM
To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: Re: IMHO
Yeah Lang – this is a tricky one for GMs; after the longest season, in a bubble, without a restart date set… how proactive do the two top teams need to be during this off-season?
If I’m the Lakers I’m looking to run it back. As long as you’ve got LeBron, until the day he retires, you’re in the mix for a championship. I think Dwight Howard and AD come back, and I’d love if KCP comes back as well as Rondo. But I also think adding Bradley Beal to the Lakers roster makes them unstoppable, so just keep that in your back pocket for 2021.
I think the Lakers need to look at adding a veteran star to their team to win now and not wait to develop the younger guys like Kuzma. LeBron James is 35 years old, so the Lakers will never be a young team because there just isn’t time.
As for Miami, on their board is Jae Crowder, Solomon Hill, Meyers Leonard, Goran Dragic, Udonis Haslem and a few other role players. And they’ve got Jimmy locked in for a few more years — so who do you bring in to ride alongside your superstar guard?
Would it be crazy to say someone like Russell Westbrook? Lang, I would pay so much money to watch these two together. I said in one of our earlier pieces that I think Houston parts ways with Westbrook and builds around Harden — Miami’s shooters could surround the PG well and hey, if toughness costed the Heat the championship, doesn’t get much tougher than Russ.
I am all for superstars joining superstars (especially when they’re Jimmy and Russ — two of the more wild personalities in the entire league).
Speaking of superstars… without looking too far ahead, I’m sitting back looking at the Clippers implode… Do you think Kawhi could be a moving piece to the Lakers or the Heat in 2021?
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2020 9:33 PM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: Re: IMHO
It’s weird, but I feel like Kawhi would be a better fit in Miami than crossing the hall at the Staples Center and becoming a Laker. At this point, we’ve seen him on three teams in the last three seasons, and I don’t know if I really feel like he belongs to any of them. He was on the Spurs longer than any team he’s been with, but he achieved arguably his greatest success in Toronto, but then left to go to the Clippers, where he kind of dropped off the map.
Does it feel that way to you, too? Kawhi has always been quiet, but we heard way more from Paul George this season than we did from Kawhi. But go look at the stats: I just did, and was a bit surprised to discover that Kawhi averaged career highs in points and assists per game this season.
Because he’s so quiet, I don’t feel like I know anything about him. So of the two options you mentioned, I could see him going to Miami and falling into the “Heat Culture,” whatever that actually is, and spending some time chilling on South Beach.
But actually, I’d love to see him stay with the Clippers. I know loyalty is out the window in pro sports, but it would be cool to see them try and build something long term.
Wait, what am I saying, let’s send Kawhi to the Eastern Conference!