Coree Thomas

VCU Alumnus. Proud father and married to a beautiful woman. Not perfect but better than I used to be!

[Coree Thomas @TeachMe2487]

Man I hope whoever our next DC is can keep this defense producing at this level. #Chargers haven’t had a defense this good since ol Wade Phillips was calling the defense

[Lakers All Day Everyday @LADEig]

I’ll never forget when LeBron ripped up the script and spoke from the heart after Kobe’s death… he’ll always be a huge part of the Lakers family 🥹

[Kareem Abdul-Jabbar @kaj33]

@KingJames LeBron was a winner on and off the court, and Laker fan should appreciate his performance for the last 8 years. If LeBron goes home to Cleveland, it won’t matter if they win the world championship or not because it’s Hometown fans will get their opportunity to say their goodbyes to one of the greatest ever.

And who knows one day he may become Mayor!! @Lakers @NBAcom

[Daman Rangoola @damanr]

LeBron James, Laker Champion

LeBron James’ Lakers tenure has ended at 8 seasons, his longest stretch with a single team in his career. That meant eight offseasons and eight trade deadlines — sixteen transaction cycles of news, excitement, chaos, and exhaustion. It feels almost impossible to take a breath and step back, but I’ll try.

The one thing that I think has absolutely been forgotten is the state of the Lakers when LeBron James arrived. Lakers ownership had just finished firing the owner’s brother, hiring a first time President of Basketball, a first time GM, had a roster full of young, but unproven talent - and most importantly, they were absolutely rudderless. Let’s be very clear here: the Lakers were on their way to being a decade-long mediocrity. LeBron James didn’t go the Kawhi route and demand a trade for a co-star, he just signed with the team, and for that I will be forever grateful. He WAS the franchise savior, there is no other way to view that.

Now, the Klutch angle. The Lakers may bristle at being “pushed around” to do things like trade for Anthony Davis. But look at what the Lakers were doing that same offseason. They insulted and low-balled Ty Lue. Then, on the day they introduced Frank Vogel — the guy who had originally agreed to be the lead assistant — Magic Johnson went on television and trashed everything about the organization. So yeah, you got pushed around by Klutch to trade for AD, and thank god for that.

LeBron would go on to carry the franchise to a championship, the same year that he carried them through the untimely death of Kobe Bryant, followed by a global pandemic. I was asked on a podcast appearance I did the day LeBron signed about my expectations as far as championships, my answer: Set the over/under at 0.5. LeBron hit the over. Mission accomplished, end of story.

Were there lows that followed? Was the Russell Westbrook trade the worst trade of all time? I think so, and I think it’s stupid to pretend that LeBron didn’t push for that either - of course he did, it was a mistake, and it ended the title window for the team. But LeBron didn’t make the trade himself, I’d be much more amenable to the fact that LeBron James and Klutch were some overbearing pains in the asses if the organization actually had their own basketball principles and philosophies to fall back on. To date, I have seen no evidence of that.

I find myself defending LeBron today and his legacy as a Laker, but at the same time I don’t blame anybody for the relationship ending today. This was a relationship that had its ups and downs and both sides find themselves at a crossroads where saying goodbye is the most logical outcome. The Lakers have to build their franchise around their next centerpiece in Luka Doncic, and while LeBron James gave Luka the space to be himself, LeBron’s stature is too large for this team to not take it’s cues from him - it is time for the franchise to become Luka’s, fully and unmistakably. For LeBron, whether it’s commuting to San Francisco, or ending his story book career where it started, I can appreciate how those options just feel better to him today.

LeBron’s Lakers tenure was messy, political, dramatic, and eventually exhausting. But that cannot be separated from what came before him: a franchise with no direction, no credibility, and no obvious path back to relevance. He chose the Lakers without demanding a co-star first. He made them matter again. He helped deliver Anthony Davis. He won a championship. Everything after that can be debated, but the central fact cannot: LeBron James came to Los Angeles and did the job.

LeBron James, Laker Champion

[LeBron James @KingJames]

No, THANK YOU! Truly a honor to wear the 💜💛 while trying to continuing the greatness & legacies that came before me! Hope I made a few proud during my stint. 🙏🏾🫡👑

[Los Angeles Lakers @Lakers]

Thank you, LeBron 💜💛

[Coree Thomas @TeachMe2487]

I’m over all of this Klutch PR crap and ready for him to just play somewhere else. He has not done enough in a #Lakers uniform to justify putting up with this crap every year. Which sucks because Lebron the player has been great but everything else is stupid & tiresome.

[Dustin Nickerson @DustinNickerson]

Jesus to Judas when he asks who’s gonna betray him

[Jaguar Paw @sirdibbydukes]

I’m trying to tell you, that $100 million contract came with stipulations. Attack black athletes and attack the Democratic Party. You have questions for Clinton/Obama but Trump made $5-$7 billion in a year.

[​𝐥𝐲𝐫𝐚 @sunnkssdseraph]

Tolerating always turns to resentment. At first, you call it patience, then love. But what it really is, is self-abandonment. Every time you swallow a boundary, excuse a pattern or silence your discomfort, something inside you keeps score. Likes And eventually, the bill comes due.

[Coree Thomas @TeachMe2487]

Congrats to the #Knicks and their fans. Built this team without tanking and grew together. All time playoff run by them.

[Coree Thomas @TeachMe2487]

Like I said just keep it close until Brunson got back in the game. Now he’s about to end it.

[Coree Thomas @TeachMe2487]

Just keep it close until Brunson gets back in.

[Coree Thomas @TeachMe2487]

What was fox thinking? Why did he go for the layup?

[Coree Thomas @TeachMe2487]

Maybe SA doesn’t know that Alvarado is the one you want to shoot the ball. They keep rotating to him and leaving the actual scorers open.

[Coree Thomas @TeachMe2487]

Wemby being 22 years old and not being able to play a full quarter without a break should be a bigger story. It’s the finals and he can’t give you a full quarter?

[Coree Thomas @TeachMe2487]

The #Cavs HC shouldn’t even bother with a postgame speech or talk to the media. Just go ahead and collect his belongings and start looking for a new place of employment

[VCU Baseball @VCUBaseball]

2026 ATLANTIC 10 CHAMPIONS🏆

[Coree Thomas @TeachMe2487]

That was a good match. Page has top heel material

[Coree Thomas @TeachMe2487]

Man someone needs to tell Sol Ruca she’s not allowed to take out the ref. There’s no place for that in the ring.