Mad Dog: LeBron James made a mistake leaving the 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. MORE: LeBron James gets support from Ric Flair after Luka Doncic rant 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.