Rich Paul Suggests The Media Will Need To Find A New Boogeyman Once LeBron Retires And The Choices Are Obvious

Eventually, the NBA will fully transition into the new age when it comes to superstars/Face of the NBA/etc. Guys like Steph, KD, Harden, Kawhi, are all on the back 9 of their careers and only have a few holes left after backpacking the league for so long, and then of course there's LeBron, the biggest name/player/superstar of them all. It's going to be pretty damn weird when those guys are no longer a part of the NBA on a nightly basis, but as we know Father Time waits for no one. 

The good news is the NBA is in great hands when it comes to the next wave of superstar/all time talent. The talent in the league has never been better, so while it will be different, different doesn't have to mean bad. It just means different. Is it possible that 20 years from now we'll look back and realize we witnessed some of the greatest players to ever do it like we do when we look back and see this era's group of HOFers? I think so. The next wave of talent is that good.

But aside from the change on the court, there's also of course the change in media discourse that will surround this new era. Nobody knows more about that than Rich Paul given his relationship with LeBron and his overall impact in the NBA, and even he knows what's coming the second LeBron retires

You don't have to like Rich Paul or Klutch or the stuff they pull for the Lakers, but he's right. In fact, we're already seeing this transition happen even before LeBron retires. It's not as if he's saying anything we don't already know, especially in today's media landscape. Once the golden ratings goose of LeBron is out of the picture, the media will then shift focus to another player, only to run the same exact playbook. 

So, who are the most likely candidates? In my opinion, this is fairly obvious.

Jayson Tatum

Welcome to the no brainer leader in the clubhouse. If you want to talk about the next wave of players to get the LeBron media treatment, Jayson Tatum is clearly at the top of the list because frankly, it's already been happening for years now. It's truly remarkable to watch it unfold in real time, and it's how you know that Tatum is truly one of those ones. These shows/networks know that all you have to do is mention Jayson Tatum, put the clip out, and let Twitter do it's thing because for whatever reason, Tatum hate brings clicks.

How could we forget when ESPN blatantly lied and tried to make it seem like Jayson Tatum wasn't happy for his teammate when he won the ECFMVP, and then used THIS picture as their evidence? 

I mean, that's a page right out of the LeBron Media Playbook. Just blatantly lying all in the name of creating a false narrative which generates clicks and boosts ratings. 

It's not just an ESPN thing either. You know how LeBron James has Skip Bayless? Well, Jayson Tatum has his own Skip Bayless, and his name is Colin Cowherd. Colin had one Tatum clip go super viral and from there he has done his best to be this era's Skip when it comes to Tatum

The best part of that last one? That stat line wasn't even Tatum's stats from Game 3. In reality, he had 22/9/7 in a Game 3 road win. The very next game, he had 42/8/4 before popping his Achilles. 

This is also the same player who during his title run, would have games in which he would drop 36/12/4 in a win, and the very next morning Kendrick Perkins would go on TV and declare he actually underachieved because he didn't score 50 points. Seriously.

The list goes on and on, so Tatum is easily the #1 choice for the media to replace LeBron with, given that it's been happening already for years now

Luka Doncic

Not far behind will be LeBron's teammate, Luka Doncic. You could make the case that Luka already deals with this to some degree as well, but things will multiply 10x once LeBron retires and Luka is now in charge of bringing the Lakers a title. He's inching closer and closer to the age where he's going to start feeling the pressure to finally win a title given that all the new era stars around them have theirs (Giannis, Jokic, Tatum, SGA). Luka is talked about as this generational talent and all that, well, at some point you have to reach the top of the mountain, that's the expectation and requirement for that caliber of player.

We've seen the media do their thing with Luka like when Windy obliterated him during the 2022 Finals to the degree that he had to do an emergency sit down interview in the middle of the series where he publicly promised to try on defense. That was crazy.

We see stuff about his weight, about his complaining, and you can bet your ass that if the Luka-led Lakers never get over the hump, it's only going to get worse. It's really the perfect storm for the media to feast on. It involves the Lakers which is really all they need, it helps feel the online discourse around Luka which brings in eyeballs, similar to what they do with Tatum. It will rile up his rabid fanbase which leads to more engagement, the blueprint is clear.

Some of it will be warranted in the sense that it's true the time has come for Luka to finally win, but the majority of it will be the same bullshit we see with LeBron. We already get the leaks that the Lakers are basically operating with the mentality of building everything for Luka, so if the Lakers fail, it's going to be a media bloodbath. Even if he plays well, it won't matter.

Joel Embiid

This is another player who wouldn't exactly be new to this sort of thing, but if we're being honest, I have no idea what to think about Joel Embiid moving forward. He's another one of these guys where based on his talent level and status in the league, it's well past his time to win. Year after year of underachieving and injury has pretty much sealed Embiid's fate in the eyes of fans and the media, but considering we have no idea how healthy he'll even be moving forward makes this a little tougher.

If he does end up playing, then he's an easy candidate to be a media target. The Sixers have changed the roster so many times we're on like The Process version 9.0 by now. They've changed coaches. The only constant that remains is Joel Embiid, and if he's on the court and the Sixers still can't get to at least an ECF? Yeah, he's not going to be able to deflect the blame any longer. 

A big part of this whole thing is the player has to be someone that makes fans/media etc lose their minds, and Joel Embiid definitely fits that description. People in both directions lose their minds when talking about Embiid. Add in a big market, and this is a fairly obvious choice.

At the same time, his only saving grace is that if he's just never healthy and never plays. People will talk about his health and all that, but he won't face the same type of discourse as players like Tatum/Luka if he's not on the court. You sort of just forget about him which is crazy because when he is on the floor, he's insanely talented. 

So that's my pick for the top 3 options for media bullshit in a post-LeBron world. On the flip side, we'll never see stuff like this for players like Jokic, Steph, Giannis, SGA, Anthony Edwards, etc. It's very obvious who the media picks as their darlings and who they pick to slander in the name of ratings, and as we see with LeBron and Tatum, even winning doesn't stop it. If anything, it only increases things.