LeBron James has long been considered a coach on the basketball court, such is the level of his basketball genius. For some, it would then seem logical that after he hangs up his hi-tops, he would still be a coach, just in a more traditional sense. Right?
Not according to Memphis Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale, who spent four years as an assistant with LeBron in Miami.
“He would kill somebody. Perfection is like [his standard]. He wants perfection. I could see him actually owning his own team and doing something like that, but I think [as a coach], he would end up killing a player at some point because they wouldn’t live up to the expectations that he would set forth.”
It might not seem obvious — after all, he seems to be a supportive and positive teammate, even if a demanding one. But as is written on Stan Van Gundy’s face every night, there’s an added layer of stress if you are helpless on the sideline, just hoping the players do what you tell them to do.
LeBron agrees:
“Yeah, he’s a little right,” James said as he smacked his lips and made a knowing face when informed of Fizdale’s comments following Cleveland’s 103-86 win. “I don’t have, my patience is not — you’ve got to be very patient as a coach. I don’t think I have that much patience. Not that much.”
We always figured LeBron to follow in Michael Jordan’s footsteps and become the owner, anyway. With as much money as he’ll have, it’s much better to go the route where nobody can fire you. Plus then he just can play highlights of himself blocking Andre Iguodala in Game 7 of the NBA Finals whenever he wants:
(Via ESPN)
