What if LeBron had been drafted by Memphis in 2003.

[coastalmarker99]

The Grizzlies after winning 50 games in 2003 were one pick away from drafting LeBron.

You have to think if Memphis wins that lottery that a LeBron/Pau Gasol duo in the west with Jerry West as the GM would have made some noise.

As Memphis had some great role players at the time in

Young Shane Battier

Prime Mike Miller

Jason Williams


Battier and Miller, later on, ended up being great fits with LeBron well after their primes.

LeBron + Gasol + Battier + Miller in their primes is legit a championship core.

[coastalmarker99]

With Lebron now on Memphis instead of the Cavs he wouldn't have wasted the first 7-years of his career and he would have won a couple of rings with Gasol starting from 2006 to 2010.


As a LeBron/Pau Gasol duo with Jerry West as the Gm would have made some serious noise in those seasons.

[Bronbron23]

The Grizzlies after winning 50 games in 2003 were one pick away from drafting LeBron.

You have to think if Memphis wins that lottery that a LeBron/Pau Gasol duo in the west with Jerry West as the GM would have made some noise.

As Memphis had some great role players at the time in

Young Shane Battier

Prime Mike Miller

Jason Williams


Battier and Miller, later on, ended up being great fits with LeBron well after their primes.

LeBron + Gasol + Battier + Miller in their primes is legit a championship core.

I don't think he wins a ring with memphis tbh. They were a solid team on both ends but i don't know if their play style and pieces fit with how bron likes to play. Plus the west was way tougher than the east and even with joining a top 10 scorer and top 5 scorer bron only went 2/4 in miami in the easier conference and that was with miller and Battier. Having gasol wouldn't be better that having wade and bosh. Maybe he gets 1 but even that is a stretch.

[Clifton]

It would've been amazing. I remember wishing for it at the time. That was a perfect team to drop a #1 option-type player, especially one in love with passing, which Lebron was from the beginning.

Would have been better for his career, too, I think, to start out in a situation where he was expected to blend in with a high-functioning unit. His impulse to want to control everything is a flaw.

Jerry West was with Memphis at the time, right? That kind of pedigree might have convinced him to stick around, too. They could have built something historic there. Memphis was a really well run organization at the time. I remember that team being 9- or 10-deep with good players any team would want.

[coastalmarker99]

It would've been amazing. I remember wishing for it at the time. That was a perfect team to drop a #1 option-type player, especially one in love with passing, which Lebron was from the beginning.

Would have been better for his career, too, I think, to start out in a situation where he was expected to blend in with a high-functioning unit. His impulse to want to control everything is a flaw.

Jerry West was with Memphis at the time, right? That kind of pedigree might have convinced him to stick around, too. They could have built something historic there. Memphis was a really well run organization at the time. I remember that team being 9- or 10-deep with good players any team would want.



Yeah coach Brown ran a 10 man rotation in the 2002-2003 season which resulted in Memphis winning over 50 games.

[ImKobe]

Lebron and Gasol would have not been an ideal fit. Pau's a better version of Big Z, but that's not enough with the roster they had to make any deep Playoff runs, it's pretty much on par with what the Cavs had in the mid-2000s, which is why Gasol got swept in all 3 series in the Wild Wild West.

In '04, Spurs swept them by an average of 14 points a game.
In '05, Suns swept them by an average of 11 points a game.
In '06, Mavs swept them by an average of 14 points a game.

Lebron alone does not make them a contender in the mid-2000s, maybe they become a contender in the 09-10 range once Lebron develops a more consistent jump shot, but the Lakers would have still become a contender if they never make the Pau trade but bring in Marc and have him play the same role.

[3ba11]

LeBron + Gasol + Battier + Miller in their primes is legit a championship core.





Gasol would be a spot-up shooter alongside Lebron, so he would be a disappointment just like Love, Bosh, Jamison, Hughes, Ingram, Kuzma, Crowder

How is this not obvious - Lebron couldn't elevate a 2x all-star like Jamison, so he wouldn't elevate a 1x all-star like Pau (Pau was 1x all-star before joining Kobe)

Lebron's skillset doesn't elevate teammates - again, how is this not obvious - no one improved statistically during a tenure with Lebron, and he turns everyone into a spot-up shooter - why ignore the obvious? It's been 18 years - we know what happens to Lebron teammates - they turn into bums..

so cut the crap and delusion..

[coastalmarker99]

Gasol would be a spot-up shooter alongside Lebron, so he would be a disappointment just like Love, Bosh, Jamison, Hughes, Ingram, Kuzma, Crowder

How is this not obvious - Lebron couldn't elevate a 2x all-star like Jamison, so he wouldn't elevate a 1x all-star like Pau (Pau was 1x all-star before joining Kobe)

Lebron's skillset doesn't elevate teammates - again, how is this not obvious - no one improved statistically during a tenure with Lebron, and he turns everyone into a spot-up shooter - why ignore the obvious? It's been 18 years - we know what happens to Lebron teammates - they turn into bums..

so cut the crap and delusion

Go **** yourself 3ball

[3ba11]

Go **** yourself 3ball.


there's a REASON that lebron always needed a star scorer at 3rd option (super-team), or someone that out-produces him (AD).. his AAU ball-dominant skillset reduces guys, and therefore needs more help than anyone else to win

imagine a guy that mostly loses with super-teams and gets bounced in the 1st Round despite having AD... he's a complete fraud and all the facts say exactly that

[8Ball]

God another garbage team to get drafted to.

No Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant / Rodman for him.

LeBron carries a scrub ass team again. What else is new.



If LeBron wanted the easy way out he woulda joined Golden State in summer of 2014.

[Wally450]

Even with those pieces, I think they would’ve struggled with the Spurs, Mavs, and Suns. But this is without knowing exactly how the Grizzlies would’ve turned out.

[Axe]

Then he would have faced kobe in the playoffs lmao.

[hateraid]

Then he would have faced kobe in the playoffs lmao.

This. It's probably the hardest era to win in with the Spurs and Lakers relevant and strong. It's like trying to win in the Patriots/Colts era. You had to beat either or both.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

Gasol brothers were pretty overrated. Marc has 0 wins past the 2nd round without Kawhi. While pau had 0 playoff wins in Memphis. I think this team would need Phil Jackson coaching them for sure. Battier can play the Odom role.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

Go **** yourself 3ball

Hahahaha who's alt are you?

Are you roundballrock? You two are some what similar and he stopped posting lately