Iman Shumpert says LeBron James 'ruined' the NBA with his Heat move because it made fans view the game differently

• Former Cavs guard Iman Shumpert said LeBron James' move to the Heat "ruined" the NBA.
• Shumpert said James' move ended the notion of loyalty in the NBA and created more interest in transactions.

LeBron James' infamous move to the Miami Heat in 2010 changed how fans view and talk about the NBA, according to former NBA guard Iman Shumpert.

Shumpert, who played with James on the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2014-15 to 2018-19, told the "Bootleg Kev Podcast" that James' move altered the perception of loyalty in the NBA.

"'Bron ruined basketball. He thought he was making it better, I get it, but —" Shumpert said.

Shumpert explained that he believes James made fans view the game in a more transactional manner.

"Me, personally, I loved the NBA for the loyalty I thought was there. [James] basically knocked the fourth wall down, like, 'Man, the owners ain't shit. They bullshitting. We doing what we want.'

"Great business move, for sure, but when you think about it from the outside looking in, I got people tweeting me right now literally talking about owners and trades. Y'all not supposed to be talking about none of this, actually ... If you're a businessman and you're sitting on the outside looking in, you'd be like, 'Damn, the fans are supposed to be worried about the games.'"

Shumpert said James joining forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Heat in free agency suddenly put a spotlight on players and teams where immediate success is demanded. And if that success doesn't happen right away, fans begin discussing how players should be moved and how trades can happen.

"I feel like the franticness [sic] started when 'Bron went to Miami," Shumpert said. "That's when everything became so critical."

Shumpert said as a Chicago Bulls fan growing up, he never thought about trades or moving players and defended players in arguments. He argued such loyalty is dead now.

"[Fans] really start looking at it like it don't mean nothing. Like, loyalty means nothing," Shumpert said.

Indeed, James' move to the Heat is largely viewed as the beginning of the "player empowerment" era in which players have taken a more active role in choosing where they play and who they play with. After James left the Cavs in free agency, superstar players have increasingly realized their power to demand trades and force teams into moves, knowing they don't want to lose star players for nothing.

While Shumpert's opinion is his own, there has been discussion in the larger basketball world about whether the NBA has a problem with fans caring more about transactions — free agency and trades — than the actual games.

Shumpert and the host agreed that the NBA has become an "arms race" where teams rarely get several years to grow together.

Watch Shumpert's comments below, which begin at 11:55: