LeBron James felt super insulted when Jay Williams referred to him as a “Pippen” during his title run with Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat.
While the debate over Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James never seems to end, perhaps LeBron is more of a Scottie Pippen anyway?
That’s what Jay Williams said on Twitter when replying to Richard Jefferson‘s assertion that Giannia Atentekoumpo is more of a Pippen who needs his Jordan to win a championship. The Milwaukee Bucks are down 0-2 in their quarterfinal series with the Miami Heat.
But when Williams said LeBron was a Pippen when he teamed up with Dwyane Wade to bring the Miami Heat a pair of NBA championships, the Los Angeles Lakers star took exception.
LeBron felt insulted by Jay Williams claim that “The King” was playing second fiddle once upon a time in his career
Explain to me what the fux I gotta do with this subject matter! I’m over here minding my damn business preparing for Houston. And by the way I ain’t never been nobody but my damn self! 👑 Shit!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 3, 2020
No matter how talented LeBron is, he will never live down joining Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat to win the first two of his three NBA titles after coming up short in his first stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
LeBron didn’t win on his own so he formed the “Heatles” where it was Wade’s town and Wade’s team and while he was a supremely talented player, it was perceived that LeBron was the Batman to Wade’s Superman, or in NBA parlance, he was the Pippen to Wade’s Jordan.
Of course, LeBron has long since graduated from that role, which Williams says as much in his tweet that prompted that hostile response.
LeBron overcoming a 3-1 series deficit and defeating the Golden State Warriors team that won 73 regular-season games was the end of that narrative. Even if he formed another dynamic superteam with the Lakers after the trade for Anthony Davis, there’s no denying that LeBron is the lead dog on every team he’s on.