Stan Van Gundy wishes LeBron James was appreciated

LeBron James has compiled the best career in NBA history and Stan Van Gundy wishes basketball fans would just appreciate it.

For nearly three decades, James has lived under the microscope. While he’s amazingly done almost nothing wrong, there remains a large base of people who make it seem like he can’t do anything right. And on the latest episode of Nothing Personal with David Samson, Van Gundy addressed James’ incessant critics.

“LeBron’s gotten a little hate for a long time for a lot of different things,” Van Gundy said after Samson noted James has been criticized for taking his full player option with the Los Angeles Lakers. “Whether it was his decision to come to Miami that he announced on TV, whether it was bumping into Eric Spoelstra. Whatever it is, LeBron’s gotten a lot of hate for a guy who’s had the best career of any NBA player, ever. And we can argue who the best player has been in the NBA, but it’s hard to argue that anyone’s had a better career.

“The most amazing thing to me is, this guy has been a national figure since he’s been in eighth grade, what’s the biggest off-court controversy you’ve got on this guy? This guy has done nothing except represent the game of basketball and the league well. And yet, there’s this hate for him,” Van Gundy continued. “I have never understood the negativity around him. I think a lot of it was there’s so many people out there who just revered Michael Jordan and the fact that people would question, ‘Is LeBron as good?’ led to a hatred of LeBron instead of an appreciation of what he’s done. And I think that’s unfortunate.”

Even today, entering his 23rd season at more than 40 years old, if LeBron stays with the Lakers, it’s because he doesn’t care about championships anymore. If he leaves the Lakers, well, there he goes, ring chasing again.

Despite significant off-court missteps, the late Kobe Bryant was more beloved because he reminded fans of Michael Jordan. No one thought Bryant was the best player in NBA history, but everyone enjoyed watching him try to be Jordan. James doesn’t remind anyone of Jordan. He doesn’t look like Jordan on the court, and he doesn’t act like him off it, particularly with his willingness to address social issues. But despite not being like Jordan, you can make the argument that LeBron is better than Jordan, and that alone encourages his critics to stay loud.