Jimmy Butler requested a trade on Wednesday, giving the Minnesota Timberwolves a list of three teams he’d like to be sent to: the Knicks, Nets and Clippers. It’s clear Butler wants to land in New York or Los Angeles when he’s a free agent next summer, but it’s curious the one team intentionally left off his list was the Lakers.
Jimmy Butler doesn’t want to play with LeBron James. Is this a new superstar trend?
Jimmy Butler joined Kyrie Irving in showing he doesn’t want to play with LeBron James. Coincidence or trend?
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Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Butler was reportedly enamored with the idea of playing for the Lakers last time he was ready to hit the free agent market in 2015. Why doesn’t Butler want to play for the Lakers anymore? According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, it’s because of the presence of LeBron James.
Butler had once imagined playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, but LeBron James’ arrival as the franchise’s cornerstone made it less appealing for Butler in the prime of his career, league sources said.
James is unanimously regarded as the greatest player on the planet, yet several All-Star caliber players have gone out of their way to avoid playing with him. Is it possible the league’s next generation of stars don’t want to play with LeBron? Consider the following.
- Kyrie Irving requested a trade from the Cavaliers one year after winning a championship amid reports of friction with James.
- Paul George publicly flirted with the idea of signing with the Lakers in free agency only to re-sign with the Thunder before James officially joined LA.
- There have been reports that Kawhi Leonard, another top free agent next summer, is reportedly hesitant to play with James, too. From NBA insider Shams Charania: “I don’t think he’s jumping for joy that LeBron James is in L.A. with the Lakers. If anything, that’s going to make him look maybe more toward the Clippers.”
What’s going on here?
Why wouldn’t young stars want to play with LeBron?
James is a great teammate by most accounts, but he does have a way of sucking the air out of a room. His second stint with Cleveland was defined by passive-aggressive subtweets and an outward dissatisfaction with his teammates when he felt let down.
There’s also this: when you win on LeBron’s team, LeBron gets all the credit. Another star might think it’s impossible to be viewed as anything more than a supporting actor while playing in James’ shadow.
We know that Butler is one of the NBA’s last remaining alpha dogs, complete with a my-way-or-the-highway approach that rubbed teammates in Chicago and Minnesota the wrong way. We know Irving wanted to be the focal point somewhere else away from James’ glare.
It’s possible this is a coincidence and not a trend, but there’s certainly a substantial amount of smoke ahead of the Lakers’ pursuit of a max free agent (or two) in the summer of 2019.
It’s possible all of this is overblown
Maybe Paul George just enjoyed the small town vibes around the Thunder and liked playing with Russell Westbrook. No one knows what Kawhi Leonard is thinking right now, because Kawhi Leonard hasn’t made any public statements in over a year.
It only takes one player to break apart this narrative that today’s younger stars don’t want to play with LeBron. Perhaps Kevin Durant will sign with the Lakers a year from now. Maybe Leonard ultimately ends up there, too.
For now, it is fair to wonder if the prospect of playing with James is scaring some young stars away. LeBron’s peers like Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul always showed great respect for him, but Irving and Butler have gone on the record to show they don’t want to be viewed as his co-star.
For now, it’s up to Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram to assume the mantle as James’ top running mates. Will the Lakers add a marquee free agent to pair with LeBron a year from now? It’s too early to know, but the Lakers’ pursuit of another star just got a lot more interesting.
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