“I love Scottie Pippen, Scottie was like the s**t… Obviously MJ was crazy, Kobe would’ve been another one” - LeBron James says Scottie Pippen is one player he would’ve liked to play with

LeBron James' 19-year career has seen him take a mediocre roster to the NBA Finals, team up with players to go back-to-back and win a finals series down 1-3.

James has never been one to shy away from discussing the topic of teaming up with players, especially on his volition. After all, it was him who kicked off the big-three craze with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami.

On Uninterrupted's "The Shop," when asked who he would like to play with, James said:

"In today's game, Steph Curry. Steph Curry's the one that I want to play with in today's game. All time, I love Scottie Pippen. Scottie was like the s**t. Obviously, MJ was crazy. Kobe would've been another one.

"Scottie Pippen and Penny Hardaway was like my two, 'cause I seen myself in them. ... I saw myself in Pippen and Penny – tall guards, point forwards, get everybody involved, defend all kinds of positions"

When asked why he chose Curry as the one he would want to play with in today's game, James said:

"Man, I love everything about that guy. Lethal. When he get out of his car, you better guard him right from the moment he pulls up to the arena. As soon as he get out of his car, you better guard his a**. You might want to guard him when he get out of the bed."

LeBron James and the player empowerment era

Left to Right: LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade

LeBron James' 2007 playoff run has to be in the conversation as one of his greatest playoff runs ever. He averaged 25.1 points per game, with the team's next highest-scoring player averaging about half of his average (Zydrunas Ilgauskas, with 12.6 ppg)

Substandard performances from his teammates in Cleveland probably sparked his ambitions to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. That subsequently kicked off what many NBA players refer to as the player empowerment era.

A large part of the criticism of James over the years has to do with him taking his talents to South Beach and then hopping around. He returned to Cleveland to team up with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. He then left for LA, eventually bringing Anthony Davis with him, and then calling over Russell Westbrook.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst, who has been covering James since high school, said that all of James' teams have a four-year cycle.

“LeBron’s career operates in four-year increments. He wears his team out. I call it organizational fatigue.” (h/t) Sports Illustrated

LeBron's recent comments about wanting to play with his son, Bronny, are no different. In fact, any franchise ready to draft Bronny James in 2024 should also clear some extra cap space, just in case.