LeBron James Criticizes The NBA’s Ring Culture: ‘It’s Never Enough’

LeBron James has gone back and forth on the ring culture discourse before, depending on his mood. This time around he bemoaned over how obsessed athletes are around winning championships just to prove their are the all-time bests, which is curious considering he’s widely associated with this behaviour. 

Nevertheless, let’s give the Lakers superstar the benefit of the doubt, maybe he’s growing out of his title fixation. In the most recent episode of his Mind the Game podcast with Steve Nash, he explained why “a ring is a team accomplishment” and pushed back on the idea that greatness is measured by championships.

“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,” he told his co-star on Wednesday’s show. “It’s so weird. It’s never enough.”

LeBron is not only a four-time champion who has reached the NBA Finals 10 times during his historic 22-year career, but he’s also the league’s all-time leading scorer and a four-time MVP. Which one of his accolades is the most important, you might ask?

The Los Angeles icon sat there talking about ring culture to another all-time great who never earned a title in his entire career, Steve Nash. “I don’t know why it’s discussed so much in our sport and why it’s the end-all, be-all of everything,” he told the trophy-less, two-time league MVP.

James the added: “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?

The 40-year-old, who will currently be recovering from an injury throughout the summer, mentioned other all-time greats from other sports, like Barry Bonds or Dan Marino. “I don’t understand where it came from. I don’t know where it started I just hope we have to appreciate more of what guys have been able to accomplish,” LeBron insisted by giving out examples.