Former NBA guard Austin Rivers blasted Chris Brockman for claiming that LeBron James will be a “non-factor” in his league-record 24th season.
There has been an argument on social media that wherever James lands in free agency, they would instantly become legitimate championship contenders. Among the teams strongly linked to the four-time NBA champion are the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers.
On Wednesday’s episode of “The Rich Eisen Show,” Chris Brockman said the Heat, which recently acquired Giannis Antetokounmpo, would be a play-in team.
“If he goes to Miami, enjoy the Play-In Tournament,” Brockman said. “LeBron is gonna be a non-factor this season. I think everybody needs to ready themselves for that.”
Rivers, who played 11 NBA seasons from 2012 until 2023, came to the defense of James and criticized Brockman for his comments. The 6-foot-4 guard wrote his comment under the Instagram post of ESPN, which shared Brockman’s remarks.
“This guy has zero ball knowledge and looks like he barely has the coordination to tie his shoes together,” Rivers commented. “Bron stats last season say the opposite of ‘non factor’…but go ahead get ur clicks guy.”
James also reacted to Brockman’s comments on Wednesday. He reshared ESPN’s post on his Instagram story and added a number of laughing emojis.
In his final season with the Lakers, James averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game as the third scoring option behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
How will the Miami Heat roster look with the addition of LeBron James?
The Miami Heat made a splash early in the offseason with the blockbuster trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo. They’ve also added forward Bobby Portis via the deal and sent Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Heat still have three-time All-Star Bam Adebayo and one-time NBA champion Andrew Wiggins. Davion Mitchell would likely be Miami’s starting point guard, and recent acquisition Tim Hardaway Jr. will be the team’s sixth man.
While it can be argued that Miami needs to add more depth, James could be viewed as the missing piece in this already-solid starting lineup.
Edited by Kim Daniel Rubinos
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