In a new interview on the Bootleg Kev podcast, Iman Shumpert explained how LeBron James’ decision to join the Miami Heat in 2010 changed the NBA landscape forever.
After Bootleg Kev suggested that Kevin Durant “ruined basketball” by joining Golden State in 2016, Shumpert reminded him who did it first. “It wasn’t KD. It was LeBron first going to Miami. LeBron knows he ruined basketball. He thought he was making it better. Me personally, I loved the NBA for the loyalty that I thought was there. He basically knocked the fourth wall down.”
He continued, “Great business move for sure. But when you think about it outside looking in, I got people tweeting me right now, they’re literally talking about owners and trade.”
Shumpert, who won a ring with LeBron and the 2016 Cavaliers, took to Twitter on Tuesday to defend his comments.
Responding to a Twitter user who reminded Shumpert of the various superteams that existed before Miami’s Big 3, Shump wrote, “Find me the year the top player left his throne and joined someone else? Closest thing was Shaq but Bigs have to pair up and Kobe was the juice. Bron had no need and had all the influence. I can debate this all day.”
After another user pointed out that LeBron helped Shumpert win a ring, James’ former teammate replied, “You saw the clip and not the convo. LeBron changed the way teams are built forever. Check the length of these contracts.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Shumpert talked about LeBron’s tendency to flop to draw a foul. “The worst thing we had against LeBron was like, ‘Bro, why you flopping?’” Shumpert said. “And literally, he started flopping cause he like, ‘Bro, I gotta get these free throws if these people getting free throws.’ He like, ‘Bro, I’m really getting hit.’ So he like, ‘Ah, I’ll sell it for you cause they can’t see it cause I’m so strong. Y’all can’t see me getting fouled.’”
Watch Shumpert’s take on why he thinks LeBron ruined basketball up top, and check out his full interview with Bootleg Kev below.
