LeBurned out: LeBron James destroys legacy in Los Angeles

Some basketball fans and critics like to argue that LeBron James is the true GOAT of men’s basketball.

Jason Whitlock, however, disputes this, claiming that while James is “a top five, top 10” NBA player, he doesn’t come close to legends like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or Tim Duncan. The hype that’s long surrounded LeBron, he contends, has been driven by the media rather than by genuine success — particularly during LeBron’s seven years with the Los Angeles Lakers.

“LeBron’s early years in Cleveland, his four years in Miami, his return to Cleveland, all of that — great,” Jason caveats. However, he adds, “These seven years in Los Angeles have been a psyop, a mirage, a narrative, a script that’s been played out. … The media has lied to us about what’s been going on with LeBron James the entire time he’s been in LA.”

He compares James’ LA career to the newly released movie “Sinners,” which “critics are overrating,” even though “anybody with a brain” knows it’s “a ripoff of ‘From Dusk Till Dawn.’”

Similarly, LeBron’s time with the Lakers has been marked by media hype and “a lot of failure.” Shannon Sharpe’s role in maintaining the phony LeBron narrative, especially with his funny catchphrase “Lakers in 5,” and the fact that the Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs in five games by the Minnesota Timberwolves on April 30, 2025, underscore his argument that the media’s narrative has outpaced LeBron’s actual success.

“This man has exited the first round of the playoffs multiple times while a Los Angeles Laker,” says Jason. With the exception of LeBron’s 2020 “bubble title” — a championship won in the NBA’s fanless, COVID-era Orlando quarantine bubble — his career with the Lakers has been “an abject failure.”

LeBron’s focus on boosting stats to chase Michael Jordan’s legacy, coupled with poor decisions like hiring rookie coach J.J. Redick, has contributed to his less than stellar record, according to Jason. After the Lakers’ 2025 playoff exit, he warns that LeBron’s overhyped narrative may hurt his legacy, teeing critics up to rank him below Kobe Bryant.

Whitlock extends his media critique by comparing LeBron to Shedeur Sanders, a football player hyped as a star by his father, Deion Sanders, and the media but whose draft slide sparked ridicule.

LeBron’s over-inflated legacy is “no different than what Deion and Shedeur did in Colorado. All that hype,” and now Shedeur “could get cut by the Cleveland Browns, could end up in Canada in all of this reaching to prove to everybody that Shedeur Sanders is … one of the greatest things to ever happen in college football,” says Jason.

“Now Shedeur is a laughingstock. He’s having to go on a PR campaign to try to rehabilitate his tarnished reputation.”

Jason believes LeBron’s media-driven hype risks a similar fall, leaving his LA legacy as more illusion than greatness.

To hear more of Jason’s analysis, watch the episode above.

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