The parallels between LeBron James and Tom Brady are obvious.
All-time legends in the conversation for greatest of all-time. High IQ leaders who rank among the smartest ever in their respective sports. Age-defying champions who refuse to bend the knee to Father Time.
The Venn diagram for James and Brady features plenty of overlap in their 20th and 23rd seasons, respectively.
So you'll forgive James if one game into what could be a long season he reached far into the depths of the proverbial Tom Brady well when assessing the Lakers' chances of winning with a flawed roster, in this case, an egregious lack of shooting.
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"We’re getting great looks, but it could also be teams giving us great looks. To be completely honest, we're not a team that's constructed of great shooting."
"It's not like we're sitting here with a lot of lasers on our team, but that doesn't deter us from still trying to get great shots. When you get those opportunities, you take them, but we're not sitting here with a bunch of 40-plus [percent] career 3-point shooting guys."
The four-time MVP carried on about the need to put in the work and play to other strengths, all of which makes complete basketball sense.
But then he turned football philosopher and assumed early pole position for biggest reach of the NBA season.
"Let's keep it a buck, it would be like a football team," James added. "If you had a football analogy and you had a bunch of guys that were underneath route runners and wondering why the quarterback is not throwing 20-plus [yard] passes down the field. That's how the team is constructed. That don't mean you can't win. [Tom] Brady did it."
On the surface, there's some merit.
Clearly, the Lakers aren't going to win anything by playing a style that doesn't fit their strengths. But the same thing can be said for literally any team in the history of sports.
Now to be sure, James didn't specify which Brady team he had in mind.
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Could it be the 2020 Buccaneers, led by 43-year-old Brady? That dynamic offense ranked third in scoring with Brady ranking first in average air yards per attempt featured a stud duo of receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin along with a resurgent Rob Gronkowski. One of the most talented rosters on both ends of the ball, with five All-Pros, good for second-most in the NFL.
The Lakers had Austin Reeves guarding Steph Curry, gave rotation minutes to Matt Ryan (another football crossover!), and might feature the NBA's worst 3-12 depth. The NBA's Buccaneers, the Lakers are not.
What if he was talking about the 2018 Patriots?
That team featured just two Pro Bowlers — Brady and superstar defensive back Stephon Gilmore, not an unreasonable comparison for Anthony Davis.
But Darvin Ham is a far cry from Bill Belichick, Patrick Beverley is a far cry from Dont'a Hightower, and Russell Westbrook's chemistry with LeBron is a far cry from the linked brains shared by Brady and Julian Edelman. The 2018 Patriots — not to mention the 2016 and 2014 Super Bowl winning squads — featured top-8 offenses and defenses.
The Lakers don't have a single career 40-percent 3-point shooter on the roster and feature precisely zero wing stoppers, perhaps the single most important asset in today's positionless game. The NBA's Patriots, the Lakers are not.
Are there similarities?
Of course.
Are there shared mentalities?
Sure.
Are they both off to uninspiring 2022 starts?
Absolutely.
Am I taking a throwaway line in a post-game press conference far too seriously?
100 percent.
However, most of the parallels between James and Brady stop the second you proceed past... well... James and Brady.
There are 81 games to go and if James has proven anything over the course of two decades, it's that writing him off in October is a fool's errand. But if you're a Lakers or LeBron fan searching for solace, you're going to have to look elsewhere because the TB12 method is not saving your season.
