LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers do not belong together. The guy is going to go down as one of the two or three best players in the history of this league. The team is one of two franchises with a history that dwarfs the rest of the NBA. To the naked eye, it may be a match made in Heaven: the superstar and the iconic franchise, but the truth is they simply cannot co-exist.
It’s something sports media can take a lesson from. If the brand is what you want at the front of people’s minds, you probably can’t be in the business of courting superstars.
The Los Angeles Lakers have a history just about any franchise in sports would envy. Championships matter there because for so long, that is all the fans and the front office knew.
Jeanie Buss, like her father before her, wants to win. She wants star players on her team. But the reality is that Jeanie Buss, like her father before her, wants those things in a particular way.
She wants a team led by homegrown stars. She wants the purple and gold to be the ultimate attraction. Magic, Kobe, The Logo, and Shaq were all great, but the fact that most of them spent their whole career in LA matters. Even Shaq, who was a free agent acquisition, didn’t become the league’s single most dominant force until he became a Laker.
This is a franchise that likes stars so long as they add to the Laker mystique. LeBron doesn’t do that exactly.
By the time LeBron James decided he needed to be in Los Angeles and that he wanted to be a Laker, he already had three rings, four MVPs, fifteen All-NBA selections and had built a media empire.
He didn’t need the Lakers. He chose the Lakers because the circumstances fit his goals. He got them a title and he helped lure what at the time was a top five player in the league to join him.
It’s been three years. This relationship has clearly run its course, and Buss is dealing with it by subtweeting James.
When I was working in music radio, I had a program director that wouldn’t let my partner and I put our names on the morning show we hosted. The show was named after the station. He was militant about our talk time because we needed the music to stand out. It is what made the station what it was.
I was in my 20s then and while I did push back on these ideas, I did think that the guy knew what he was doing and there was some advantage he was trying to create.
In my 40s, I realize now that it was all about suppressing value. That’s not to say it is the reason I am not making Howard Stern money now, but it made sure that my partner and I never could create a brand that had value outside of the station.
Why would a brand do that? Why would Jeanie Buss invoke Kobe Bryant’s name to make sure her team’s current superstar knows she is unhappy?
Teams are only as good as their players. Media brands are only as good as their talent. Their entire value is based on having people that the audience wants to watch or hear. Limiting those potential stars or steering clear of established stars when they become available simply lowers the ceiling on the brand as a whole.
Media brands, just like teams, can choose to stay out of the superstar business. If you can find a way to reach your definition of success while doing that, then good for you. Stick to it. Just remember that there are competitors out there trying harder and not limiting their options for taking you down.
Over-valuing the brand is a ticket to irrelevancy. That music station I worked at? It has flipped formats multiple times since I worked there.
Look at SportsCenter. There was a time when you had to be unique and interesting to host that show. In 2022 though, where is the new Stuart Scott? Where is the modern answer to Dan & Keith?
There are still talented people that host that show, but the brand is SportsCenter. Every decision is made in the vacuum of “what is best for SportsCenter?”. I am not sure shying away from creating stars makes much sense for a highlight show in the age of the smartphone.
No matter the business, when a big-time free agent hits the market, it is up to brands to determine if there is a fit there and make their pitches. Maybe a star host doesn’t fit the identity of a station. Maybe a player’s game doesn’t work with the roster that a team has been building. It is perfectly fine to decide to sit out the courtship.
If you’re in though, you have to be all in. How is your station going to accommodate a difference-maker that may require you to adjust your brand position? How is your team going to remake its roster to maximize what it can get from its high-profile signee?
Jeanie Buss was happy to welcome LeBron James to the Lakers. Making your team a soft landing spot for every Klutch Sports Group client is probably concerning, but surely Buss knew it was a possibility. Where LeBron goes, Rich Paul goes and where Rich Paul goes, he brings his clients along.
Buss and Laker fans got their title out of the experiment. If she is ready to move on, then move on, but the Lakers are still in business with LeBron James. Subtweeting him and adding another cog to the Kobe Bryant grief porn machine won’t help the situation. All it does is create an unnecessary obstacle towards your goal.
Media brands would be wise to pay attention and take notes of what not to do.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
