Melo and LeBron Would Be Wise To Avoid Lakers

Hopefully, we'll see these two wearing these same jerseys in the 2014-2015 season.

Melo and LeBron to join Kobe in L.A. in 2014!

Yeah, that's what their saying. The Lakers organization is hoping to woo the two Forwards to help Kobe make the Lakers contenders again.

What a fantastic team that would make. We'd get to watch three of the top players of this era on the same court, wearing the purple and gold every night.

While this may be great for the Lakers organization and Lakers fans, I don't think it would be great for the NBA. While the NBA is better when the Lakers are contenders, I just don't think the NBA would be better with this move in particular. This move would only benefit the Lakers; here's why.

The Lakers with Melo, LeBron and Kobe would dominate. Even though playing the same style of basketball should hinder them a bit, they would find a way to make it work. Even if they couldn’t figure it out themselves, there would be no shortage of coaches that would be lined up for the Lakers to choose from. Not to mention all the “Ring Chasing” veterans that would take less money to play alongside them. (See 2011-2013 Miami Heat)

That would make the Lakers instant favorites to win a championship. That's while Kobe still has a couple years left in him. When he decides to retire, LeBron and Melo would take over the team and still be dominate.

That would mean the Lakers are contenders for years to come. Great for the NBA, right?

Wrong!

Here's why that trade would not benefit the NBA.

After playing in 31 championships and winning 16 of them, the Lakers have established themselves as the premiere team in basketball. Although the Celtics have 17 championships in 21 tries giving them a higher win percentage, the Lakers dominate their conference. They are the one team that seems to always be contenders. The Celtics longest drought between championship appearances is 20 years. The Lakers longest drought is 8 years.

When you have that much success, you’re bound to have a bunch of fans that love and hate you. The Lakers have fans in every city in America. Even when the Lakers are on the road, they still have fans in their opponent’s stadium. So when the Lakers are contenders, either the fans are rooting for them or they are rooting against them. There are no NBA fans that don’t have an opinion either way with the Lakers. Either you love them or you hate them.

This is what makes the Lakers’ status as contenders good for the NBA.

What makes it not so good for the NBA is the fact that once this move is done, you can bet your bottom dollar all the rest of the superstars will be calling each other trying to duplicate this move just to be able to contend. It's already happening. LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh started this trend three years ago when they teamed up in Miami.

GM's have been doing this for years. But now, superstar players are considering this during free agency. That means they no longer want to stay with their respective teams, they are now willing to leave a team to join another superstar player in hopes of winning a championship.

Why is that a bad thing, you ask? Well, they are not getting together in Milwaukee or Utah. They would want to get together the big markets. So that hurts smaller market teams chances of ever winning a title.

Smaller market teams may be able to get a player in the draft, but their window is small. Once this young player develops his game and gets to the point that he can actually lead a team in the NBA, he's already tired of losing. First chance he gets, he's calling another star to "join forces" in a bigger market. (See Chris Paul, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard and Darren Williams)

This makes less parity in the NBA; and parity is what keeps the game worth watching. Once you know who's going to win, the game is not nearly as fun.

Besides that, this move wouldn't be that great for LeBron and Melo.

Allow me to explain.

The Lakers position in the NBA hierarchy has bred an air of cockiness. The Lakers fans and organization expect success and for them, it’s either Championship or bust… every year. There are no acceptable struggling seasons. When a franchise player does deliver a championship, he has merely done what was expected of him. You’ll get your glory and everyone in Laker land will love you, but you just carried on tradition.

If a franchise player can’t deliver that championship, they treat you like you’ve let down all of American Sports. Just have a look at Magic Johnson’s outlook on Dwight Howard before and after the 2012-2013 season. Before he was a Laker, Magic was ready to trade Pau Gasol and whoever else not named Kobe to get him. After his lone season with the Lakers, Magic says he’s not worth a max contract until he develops a post-game. He says this knowing full well that Howard was recovering from back surgery.

So for Melo and LeBron you have to wonder, why would you want to put yourself under that kind of scrutiny? I understand the whole, “Big Stage” thing. But let’s be clear, Madison Square Garden is the big show. Every big name player that has ever had a big game in MSG talks about how special it is to perform well there. Miami is not too shabby either. It’s not L.A. or New York, but it’s still South Beach. They are both “Big Markets”.

In Melo’s case, playing for the Knicks has its perks other than what the city itself offers. The Knicks haven’t been to the Finals since 1999 and haven’t won a title since 1973. So if Melo’s able to win just one championship there, he is sure to be held in the highest esteem with that franchise. Even if he doesn’t win, just getting them to the Finals alone would give him a lot of credit. Right now, NY is excited just to have him because he gives them a chance to win. He has made them contenders again.

For LeBron, he has delivered two of their three championships. He is already beloved in that town and even if he doesn’t win again, he’ll always be a champion in that city. He’s playing with house money in Miami. If he does decide to leave, his best bet would be to go back to Cleveland and try to get them that championship he promised them years ago. The fans there would be thrilled just having him back getting them to the playoffs.

For both players, going to the Lakers would bring a new level of pressure. Right now, they are playing in cities that want to win above everything and believe in them as the guys to get it done. They’re not playing with enormous amounts of pressure from their respective fans (LeBron’s first title relieved him). In L.A., fans would expect them to win.

Not to mention what it would do to their legacy.

LeBron has already left one team to "Join forces" with two of the league's brightest stars in Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. If he leaves and does the same with the Melo and Kobe, sure he may win another championship or two. But what does that say for a four-time MVP and two-time Finals MVP that you have to keep leaving your team to join someone else's. How can he claim to be a leader when he's constantly following?

Melo has also left his team for greener pastures. Although he left for different reasons than LeBron, he should still consider playing for his own team. 

Franchise players shouldn't bounce around from team to team like role players nor should they gather in two or three cities to form “Super Teams”.

The more rivalries the NBA has, the better.

The Lakers need Melo and LeBron to regain contender status. Neither Melo nor LeBron need the Lakers.

If they want to play with Kobe, they should try talking him into playing in the Olympics again.