On the heels of an incredible feat by LeBron James, who became the first player ever to achieve a triple-double with all 30 NBA teams, Doug Gottlieb attempts to break down how he has noticed a clear parallel between LeBron James & Tom Brady.
Last night James helped lead the Lakers to a victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder with 25 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists in an effort that felt like another day at the office for him. His reaction to the stat was, "I had no idea."
Gottlieb (in the audio above) talks about how achieving these records is a result of an ever-evolving NBA and LeBron James being ball-dominant while standing the test of time. He believes It's the same thing that Tom Brady is going through right now in his career. Gottlieb also highlights how their greatness casts more of a shadow on the players around them and whether or not their teams have the pieces to be successful.
Doug Gottlieb: "They're so accomplished now that it becomes about the guys around them. Think about what we've talked about with Tom Brady which is, does Tom Brady have the pieces around him to be successful? And with LeBron, it's similar. When the Lakers fell apart last year, was I critical of LeBron? Yes. It was his lack of emotional investment with his team and teammates that I didn't like. It was also his defense and not giving a great effort, but at the end of the day, no one really questioned LeBron James in terms of how good he still was. It was, 'He just didn't have a good enough roster,' which is kind of what we're getting to with Tom Brady. People aren't pointing out Tom Brady's inability to raise these guys; Instead, they're pointing to Brady's teammates."
They're kind of coaligned in the respect that they have from their peers, and much of it is because those guys (now in the sport) grew up watching them play, idolizing them."
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