Danny Green: Playing With LeBron James Could Be “A Curse”

Danny Green was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers for just one season. But it was a good one.

Acquired by the Lakers in the summer of 2019, the former North Carolina swingman had just won an NBA title the previous summer with the Toronto Raptors – his second, after also winning with the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2014. He was signed by the Lakers accordingly as a free agent to bring some of that championship experience.

In that one season, however, Green won his third title, and the Lakers won their 17th. Starting alongside Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on the wing, the two added the coveted three-and-D blend alongside LeBron James, who at that time was still as near-enough his best as a playmaker. So effective were they in their roles that Caldwell-Pope, Dwight Howard and Alex Caruso have all wondered how many more titles that Lakers team could have won had they stayed together long.

Have LeBron, Will Travel

To play with LeBron James, as Green did with both the Lakers and Cavaliers, is to play with both profile and expectation.

In many ways, this is a good thing. Not just in terms of the titles won, but also how the numbers of eyes at all times can enhance a player’s reputation around the league, and thus their future earnings. Green, however, felt that it could also be a “curse” on a player, if the fans felt they were not good enough.

In an appearance on the All The Smoke podcast hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Green spoke at length about his time as a team mate of James’s. Understandably, considering how James helped him win two of his titles, Green was effusive with his praise, describing how LeBron’s skills and intelligence even gave him veto power over the decisions of the coaching staff.

Even if coach like, ‘Yeah, I want Danny to cut here,’ and he like, ‘Yeah, but I like him over here better. This is where his spots is.’ He knows what they can do, where their best spots are. He wants you where you’re best at. And he going to find you there too, ’cause he knows they’re going to double. If they don’t, he’s going to kill.

However, being in such esteemed company meant a constant need to prove one’s worthiness. Green explained how that came not from LeBron himself, but from just being in his orbit, and the added pressure brought about by the need to play up to expectations.

He made the game very easy. But also, there are times where it’s not as easy because there’s so much pressure, even if you’re wide open to execute the play because you’re playing with LeBron James. And that’s more so on the outside than it is on the inside, cuz Bron ain’t putting the pressure on you. Yeah. But all the LeBron fans like, ‘Who’s this bum? Why is he playing with LeBron?’ You know what I’m saying? So, you know, it’s a gift and a curse.

Green Passed The Tests

All told, few would dispute Green’s worthiness.

Across his 15 NBA seasons, the player who began his career as a mere 46th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft played his way into being a coveted role player. He embodied the shooting-defending non-star wing role player to a tee, and who posted career averages of 8.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 40.0% three-point shooting in 852 career regular season games. Anyone doubting whether Green was worthy of the opportunities he got alongside LeBron would have received the answer that they sought.

Green’s comments, though, serve as a reminder. You are playing for a title in the NBA’s biggest market, who just targeted you as a free agent and gave you $15 million to go along with a starting spot. You are playing alongside one of the greatest facilitators the game has ever seen, who gave his personal seal of approval on your acquisition. You are playing well, and your team is about to win a title. And yet still, you feel the pressure of inadequacy. If Danny Green can, then perhaps we all can.