LeBron James is officially a Philadelphia 76er, and right on cue, social media is filled with the same criticism: “He’s ring chasing.”
I don’t agree.
At this point, I think people have changed the definition of what ring chasing actually means. To me, ring chasing is joining a team that has already proven it can win championships without you.
That’s exactly what Kevin Durant did when he left Oklahoma City for Golden State. The Warriors had already won an NBA title, had just gone 73-9, and had reached back-to-back Finals. They didn’t need Durant to prove they were champions. He joined an established dynasty.
LeBron’s path has never looked like that.
When he went to Miami in 2010, the Heat weren’t defending champions. They hadn’t won a title since 2006 and weren’t coming off a championship season. Yes, they had stars, but they still had to build a championship team together.
When he returned to Cleveland in 2014, the Cavaliers had never won an NBA championship. He helped deliver the greatest title in franchise history, ending a 52-year championship drought.
When he signed with the Lakers, they had missed the playoffs for years. They weren’t contenders, and they certainly weren’t champions. LeBron helped bring them back to the top and won the 2020 NBA title.
Now he’s in Philadelphia. The 76ers haven’t won an NBA championship since 1983 and haven’t even reached the Eastern Conference Finals since 2001.
Yes, Philadelphia has talent. Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, and now LeBron make them one of the league’s best rosters on paper. But they are not joining forces with a team that’s already won championships together. They still have something to prove.
Some fans now act like joining any talented team is ring chasing. If that’s the standard, then nearly every superstar in today’s NBA is guilty.
There’s nothing wrong with criticizing LeBron for leaving teams or preferring certain situations. Those are fair basketball debates. But calling him a ring chaser ignores the facts. Every championship LeBron has won came with a franchise that either hadn’t won recently, or, in Cleveland’s case, had never won at all.
If he wins one in Philadelphia, it would be with a franchise trying to end a championship drought that has lasted more than four decades, not one that’s been collecting rings without him.