Mad Dog: LeBron James made a mistake leaving the Cavaliers

TL;DR

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2026 NBA playoffs. Analyst Chris Russo criticized James for leaving the Cavaliers, claiming it negatively impacted his legacy.

Key points

LeBron James and the Lakers were swept by the Thunder in the 2026 playoffs
Chris Russo criticized LeBron for leaving the Cavaliers
Russo claims this decision hurt LeBron's legacy

LeBron JamesLos Angeles LakersOklahoma City ThunderCleveland Cavaliers

The Oklahoma City Thunder swept LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2026 NBA playoffs on Monday. It ended what was once a promising season for the Purple and Gold.

It didn’t take long for a sports analyst to assess what went wrong. Chris “Mad Dog” Russo appeared on ESPN’s “First Take” on Tuesday and called out James for a “mistake” he did in his career.

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He explained why he believes the 22-time All-Star’s decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers “hurt” his legacy.

“The issue I have with LeBron is he’s been with a million teams,” Russo said. “Cleveland twice, Miami and the Lakers. A great player usually stays with the same team. LeBron left Cleveland to go search for a championship in Miami, goes back to Cleveland, goes to L.A. Now he’s going somewhere else?

“With an average sports fan, that hurts his legacy. I think he should’ve stayed with the Cavaliers to begin with but he didn’t. He went to L.A. He’s gonna stay in L.A. and he’s gonna basically beat his head on the wall because he’s not gonna beat Oklahoma City and San Antonio. The days of LeBron winning a championship is over because he’s not going to a team in the Eastern Conference where that could be the difference.”