On a recent episode of the Mind the Game podcast, Los Angeles Lakers superstar forward LeBron James and former Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash answered questions submitted by the show’s listeners. One fan asked, “Why is ring culture so much more prevalent in the NBA than any other sport?” which LeBron James discussed in depth.
“Oh, my goodness. I do not know the answer,” James said while wincing and pinching the upper part of his nose. “I wish I had the answer to this, but I’m not sure, man. It’s funny. I don’t know. I don’t know why it’s discussed so much in our sport and why it’s the end-all-be-all of everything.”
At this point, LeBron talked about how players who have won multiple championships are compared to those who have never won a ring or have only won once.
“Like, okay. You weren’t a great player if you never won a championship,” he said sarcastically. “Or, if you won one, then you can’t be in the same conversation with this person.”
Ring culture has changed the way people talk about basketball.
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James then mentioned specific individuals who never won rings but still were all-time great basketball players.
“You sit here and you tell me Allen Iverson and Charles Barkley and Steve Nash weren’t f*ckinge unbelievable,” he questioned. “[The reason] they can’t be talked about or discussed with these guys is because this guy won one ring or won two rings? It’s just weird to me.”
LeBron went on to highlight the difference in ring culture discourse between the NBA and the NFL or the MLB, highlighting various Hall of Famers.
“It’s like saying Peyton Manning can’t be in the same room with Brady or Mahomes because he only has one ring,” he explained. “They don’t ever discuss that in their sport. Or telling me that Dan Marino is not the greatest slinger of all time, or he can’t be in the room with those guys because he didn’t win a championship. Did Barry Bonds win a World Series? I don’t think so. Barry Bonds never won a World Series. You can’t sit here and tell me that he’s not the greatest baseball player to ever touch a bat. I don’t understand where it came from. I don’t know where it started.”
LeBron continued by saying that fans and members of the media need to just enjoy greatness when they see it, rather than scrutinize every good player for not winning a championship. He also added that rings are won by teams and not individuals.
Colin Cowherd doesn’t understand LeBron James bashing ring culture
“You think he went to Miami to lay on the beach?”
(🎥 @TheHerd )
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“We have to appreciate more of what guys have been able to accomplish,” James said. “A ring is a team accomplishment, and if you happen to have a moment where you’re able to share that with your team, that should be discussed. ‘This team was the greatest team.’ You can have those conversations. But 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.”
“You automatically dismiss people and their careers when you just be like ‘Oh, he didn’t win a ring,’ or ‘he doesn’t have a ring.’ But have you actually sat down and really looked at this guy’s career and what he was able to accomplish,” he continued. “Jerry West, I think, went to like nine straight NBA Finals and was only able to win one, and he’s the logo of our league. You can’t sit here and tell me that because he only won one, the guy can’t be in the same room with the guy who won two, or three, or four. Why not? He’s our logo.”
It sounds like LeBron wants the discourse around all-time great players to be more about their accomplishments and less about how many rings they won.
