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In professional sports the conversation, rather debate, about who is the greatest of all time will always be prevalent. In the NBA the leaders of said conversation are usually between Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Lebron James. People take into account such things as their regular season statistics, their impact on the games they’re playing in, their accolades, and their post season accomplishments (titles and/or championships). As one of the most dominant people to ever play basketball at a professional level Lebron James has accrued a large amount of success in his career. Most notably making the NBA playoff for the last 14 years and the finals championships for the last consecutive 8 years, and winning 3 of them.

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So, it comes as a shock to most of the world, most NBA, and Lebron James fans, to find out that for the first time in over a decade he won’t be part of, not only, the championships but the playoffs all together. He moved from a relative cake walk of a division, in the east, to a more formidable place in the west. He now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers who, before Lebron arrived, had a meager 35-47 record and were ranked 11th in their division. As of Friday, March, 22 2019 with a loss to the Brooklyn Nets it officially moved the Lakers out of playoff contention. In the Instagram post it shows Lebron a little shaken up at the realization he won't be making the playoffs this year.

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It’s such an odd thing for the greatest player in the league to miss, not only, the Championships but the playoffs all together. So much so that it has been close to 2 decades since Lebron James hasn’t been in a playoff game. In the Instagram post it shows a few things that were completely different in the NBA at the time Lebron last missed making the playoffs. Most of today’s elite players were not even in college yet, they were barley in high school. While Lebron’s present day coach had just finished his second season as a player.

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Not only the NBA, but the world as a whole was in a completely different place. Many social media’s like Twitter, Instagram and Snap chat hadn’t even been created yet. There was no Iphone, in fact, the ipod had just been released. Netflix was only a delivery service sending out physical dvd’s. Such shows like The Office, Lost, Veronica Mars, and Desperate Housewives were only in its first season. The Twitter post shows a few other differences, like George W Bush being the president of the U.S. The world famous Canadian artist Drake, hadn’t even released a song. He was still playing the role of Jimmy Brooks on the hit tv show “Degrassi: Next Generation”.

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Despite his presences in the debate of the greatest player in the history of the NBA, Lebron James was playing pretty much with an arm tied behind his back. The team he inherited when he moved over to the L.A Lakers was an already struggling team. There wasn’t any clear guidance or leadership. The players on the team are young and not playing with the goal of winning. It would seem most of their interests lied in the distractions of being famous for other things like trying to make music or be a reality tv star. The Tweet indicates that when the Lakers didn’t make the playoffs this year it made it their 6th consecutive year falling short of playoff contention.

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The Los Angeles Lakers as a franchise is historic for its winning in the league. They’ve had NBA all times greats like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberland, Elgin Baylor, the NBA logo man himself Jerry West, Shaquille O’neal, Kobe Bryant, and Erving “Magic” Johnson. Who is currently the president of basketball operations for the Lakers. Having Lebron James join their ranks is only a natural progression. The franchise has the second most championship wins in the history of the league. In this Reddit post it shows the percentage of how many playoff appearances the Lakers have made in their history until 2013 vs the percentage of playoff appearances they’ve made from 2014-2019.

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With Lebron James being who he is, when he falls short of “perfection” there will always be people quick to scrutinize his every move. Sometimes it is very in depth and unnecessary, and other times it is funny and in good taste. In the Instagram post someone has posted the Laker emblem on a couch with the caption “Lakers have officially clinched home COUCH advantage throughout the NBA playoffs”. This is funny and good humoured because it doesn’t take any direct shots at any individual player or coach as the reason they are not in the playoffs this year. A lot of people are always quick to place blame so it is good to see that not happening in this occurrence.

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Although Lebron James did not have the same caliber of teammates that other great players may have had, he is never really given any slack for his performance in the 2018-2019 NBA regular season. It is one season; his stats are still very high and very consistent with every other year in which he’s made the playoffs and championships. Day time sports talk shows constantly debate whether him not making the post season this year will tarnish his legacy. In this YouTube clip the sports analyzers debate the topic of the legacy Lebron will leave behind and if it is tarnished by him not making the playoffs this year.

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Stephen Jackson doesn't think LeBron missing the playoffs will taint his legacy | NBA | UNDISPUTED

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Being one the most prolific figures in the NBA will always come with comparisons to the legends and the greats who have played the game in the past. Lebron will never be exempt from these comparisons. The media likes to go over everything Lebron does on the court with a fine tooth comb and compare him to the likes of a one Michael Jordan. Who most consider to be the actual greatest to ever play the game of basketball. In this Instagram post the two sports analyzers go back and forth on weather Lebron, through his stats, is a greater baskeball player than Michael Jordan.

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With all the talk being about the fact that Lebron James hasn’t lived up to what was expected of him in the move to the Los Angeles Lakers, the next question on everyone’s mind should be: will Lebron ever be able to bring a championship to the Laker franchise. He has been in the league for 16years and his longevity is going to play a factor in his performance. In the YouTube clip(starts at 1:20) the sports analyzers discuss the possibility and what factors come into play in Lebron actually being successful in winning a championship for the Los Angeles Lakers.

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Cris Carter on Nick Wright: Will LeBron James ever win a title in Los Angeles? First Things First

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Being an ultimate, elite competitor is what fuels any athlete to learn from their failures and grow through it. Allowing the strength and resolve they have within them to push them to be successful in every aspect of their craft. The elite view challenges as opportunities. When presented with an obstacle they don’t look at it as a road block but as a stepping stone to teach them how to evolve into the greatest version of themselves. Lebron is an apex competitor, the resolve he keeps within himself has pushed him to come back from circumstances most other people in his shoes would have given into, he came back from a 3-1 deficit to win the 2016-2017 NBA championship. In this Instagram post Lebron himself makes a solemn promise to the Lakers fans and franchise that the streak of missing the playoffs is almost over.