LeBron James’ Former Teammate Cites Missed Opportunity to Cement Lakers Star as the GOAT

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and his 2020 bubble championship team could have continued to dominate the NBA.

LeBron James’ Former Teammate Cites Missed Opportunity to Cement Lakers Star as the GOAT

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope believes Lakers 2020 team could have helped LeBron James become the GOAT (Image via FirstSportz)

LeBron James is without a doubt one of the greatest players in NBA history. Many consider him the GOAT, but then there are many who believe he is second after Michael Jordan, simply due to the lack of comparable NBA titles.

It is not for a lack of trying, or that he did not have the opportunities to do so. But he did face some of the best teams in the league, which might go a long way toward easing the criticism. However, he has been with the Los Angeles Lakers for 7 seasons and could reach the NBA Finals just once.

That one time they did was back in the 2020 NBA bubble. James and his team were the best in the West, and they went on to clinch the title. That team was special, as it featured players all across the board who could contribute.

But that team disintegrated down the line. Many members of that team, such as Dwight Howard, still believe they had the chemistry to repeat as champions. One of his former teammates, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, was on his podcast, and he agreed with that notion.

That team, we had a lot of moments where everything just clicked for us. Those were my brothers, I spent more time with my team than my family. I think if we kept that team together, we would’ve run off two more. There would be no more GOAT talk, that would’ve put him (LeBron James) at six.

KCP said

He added that even though some make excuses to discredit the win, they were still good enough to win it all. He also believes that they could have won two more titles, which would have made LeBron James the undisputed GOAT.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope believes some media members hate LeBron James to fill their pockets

Hearing this, Above the Rim with DH12 host Sniper Jones brought to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s attention that the likes of Skip Bayless and a few other members of the media intentionally discredit that 2020 bubble championship due to their hate for LeBron James. KCP then gave the logic behind that hate.

Lakers 2020 team was good enough to win bubble championship
Lakers 2020 team was good enough to win bubble championship (Image via Open Source/X)

Everybody got to make money somehow. That’s how Skip, they make their money. They got to hate somebody.

KCP said

The now two-time NBA champion’s words were seconded by Dwight Howard, who claimed that if it was anyone else winning that title, those media members would not have put an asterix on that championship. Just because it is LeBron James, they discredit it.

This line of thought is similar to what other current or former players who happen to overlap with the four-time champion keep saying. That the media keeps pushing the goal posts whenever it comes to LeBron James, but does not do the same with others. It is their method to keep him away from the GOAT tag.

LeBron James expected to opt-in on player option next season

LeBron James is 40 and is near the end of his illustrious career. But he could still win a title before leaving the game as a player. He has a player option that was built into his contract for the 2025-26 season. Shams Charania was on the Pat McAfee Show at game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and he said this.

I’m told LeBron James is likely to opt in.. He’s got a massive player option, and that’s the plan.. He still has about a month to figure that out.

Shams Charania said

By figuring out, Charania meant that the four-time league MVP will look at how the Los Angeles Lakers work in the offseason to improve their roster. If James sees enough evidence that they need him to opt out of his contract and sign a veteran minimum deal to bring in a certain player, he might go that route.

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