NEWSLETTER
It’s a copycat league.
Los Angeles Lakers play-by-play announcer John Ireland told Awful Announcing that LeBron James has a camera crew following him around to compile footage of his final years in the NBA. You know, a lot like a certain guy did.
“Andy Thompson, who was the guy shot The Last Dance – Michael Thompson’s younger brother who has worked for the NBA for 30 years – has spent a ton of time with us this year,” Ireland said on the Awful Announcing Podcast. “If LeBron wanted to go down this road, I think Andy is stockpiling that just so he has it. And has the opportunity to tell the story.
So, if we [the Lakers] go on a magical run for the title – Andy who was the driving force for The Last Dance, most of the stuff you saw in those 10 episodes was shot by Andy Thompson. And Andy is a smart guy. He’s already working on potentially a story about the end of LeBron’s run like he had one for the end of Jordan’s run.”
UGH. IS NOTHING SACRED ANYMORE!?
Let me preface things with this: James isn’t the first player since Michael Jordan to invite cameras behind the scenes. Numerous superstars have done it in the past, including Kobe Bryant. In fact, it was a question about the Bryant footage that is apparently sitting in a vault that led to Ireland sharing the news about James.
Also, it’s not like James isn’t worthy of some sort of epic documentary down the road. I’ve had my fun poking at the guy, but he is arguably the second-greatest player ever and deserves to have his story told. But does it really have to be by the guy who shot The Last Dance? And do we really have to already compare it to The Last Dance?
I think there would be something disingenuous about a “Last Dance” style docuseries in the wake of Jordan’s, particularly for someone who has been “competing” with his legacy for so long. Again, that isn’t to say the footage shouldn’t exist, but I guess it just depends on how they use it and the reasoning behind it. Like, is it simply being shot because of James’ personal greatness or is it being shot to fuel the assumed rivalry between the two?
Ireland clarified that it’s currently unknown what will happen with this footage – if anything at all. As we saw with Jordan, that never-before-scene stuff sat in a vault for two decades. We could see the same thing happen with James, especially since it’s likely he plays for a few more years.
