1990’s NBA was a whole different era and for a number of reasons, Rich Paul thinks LeBron’s era of NBA is a whole lot tougher.
In the 90s, smartphones weren’t a thing and no one could record NBA players’ every move.
People didn’t have the ability to consume news all day, every day, like they do now.
Due to apps like X, anyone is allowed to voice their opinion on whatever they choose to, including what they like and dislike about a certain NBA player.
The narrative and coverage (especially on social media) around LeBron James has been almost unprecedented compared to others that have come before him.
These are some of the reasons why LeBron’s agent and friend, Paul, thinks that LeBron has had to go through much tougher periods than Michael Jordan throughout his career because MJ didn’t had to navigate as much of that.
“Mike transcended the game,” Paul said on Gil’s Arena. “When Kobe came, Kobe was a silhouette of Mike. That’s everything, which is great. But LeBron is the first player to have to deal with a 24/7/365 news cycle of sports and opinions from those that’s not even capable or carry the expertise to give a valid opinion.
“In addition to, ‘I’m not really gonna do it how y’all want me to do. I’m probably going to decide how I wanna do it.’ We all know that don’t go over well, right? And so then, you have this environment in this sports society that’s created and so now you have to root against. That’s a whole other thing Mike never had to deal with because his hardest critic was probably, Peter Vecsey.
“I just think LeBron’s antlers is in platinum and Michael Jordan’s may be in gold. Why? Because he had to be compared to Mike. Who did Mike have to be compared to?”
Of course, Paul has some bias towards his client of 11 years.
MJ faced plenty of criticism and was constantly compared to others – Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Wilt Chamberlain – just to name a few.
Either way, it is a interesting take from Paul because yes, LeBron has lived through a wild social media era that only seems to be getting wilder.