Lakers News: Why Former All-Star Accuses LeBron James Of Hurting Legacy

Does he have a point?

Has Los Angeles Lakers All-NBA small forward LeBron James' frequent franchise-hopping adversely impacted his case for being named the NBA's all-time best player?

That's the case longtime New York Knicks shooting guard John Starks, an All-Star and All-Defensive Teamer with the club during its 1990s Patrick Ewing glory days (well, perhaps those championship teams in '70 and '73 may have been its true glory days, but the '90s must rank a close second), is making once again, during a new conversation with Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson of Bally Sports.

Starks notes that the assessment of whether James or Chicago Bulls Hall of Fame shooting guard Michael Jordan is ultimately the better player has been hurt by the fact that James has ditched his own teams for perceived greener pastures three different times.

“LeBron is hurting his legacy by switching NBA teams so much that it will affect his standing when it comes to LeBron vs. Jordan debates," Starks said. "Mike didn’t move around, didn’t want to move around. He wanted to play against the best. He felt like he didn’t need to go chase players to join his team to beat the best because he felt like he was the best, and I think that’s the difference. I think that’s probably going to hurt LeBron when you look at it in that perspective against Michael, Bird, and Magic. Those guys stayed with one team and they won with that team.”

This is not the first time Starks has been critical of James for ditching his clubs in free agency, as he also made the same comment in 2018 when the 19-time All-Star first signed on with the Lakers. 

Starks spent 13 seasons in the NBA. He is best remembered for his run with the Knicks from 1990-98, but he also suited up for the Golden State Warriors (on two different occasions), the post-Jordan Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz. Never a volume shooter, he was a complimentary scorer best known around the league for his intense perimeter defense. He boasts career averages of 12.5 points, 3.6 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals a night, across 866 regular season games.

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