LeBron James is the sun in the NBA solar system. Whether you love the man or hate him, there’s no denying that the league’s popularity still relies mainly on James.

Still, there are too many stories of players openly wanting to avoid playing with James. Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard are two players that would never want to be the Robin to LeBron’s Batman.

Today we will look at why each of these players would not want to play with James and who we could expect to join him and Anthony Davis in Los Angeles.

Why Kevin Durant won’t ever join LeBron

A few seasons ago Kevin Durant talked about the pressure of playing with James in a Bleacher Report article by Ric Bucher.

Durant was quoted as saying “He has so many fanboys in the media. Even the beat writers just fawn over him. I’m like, we’re playing basketball here, and it’s not even about basketball at certain points. So I get why anyone wouldn’t want to be in that environment because it’s toxic. Especially when the attention is bullshit attention, fluff. It’s not LeBron’s fault at all; it’s just the fact you have so many groupies in the media that love to hang on every word. Just get out of the way and let us play basketball”

This is one of the main reasons you won’t see Durant ever team up with him. He has always been very aware of comments made about him and his perceived lack of love for the game from different outlets.

Although they are great together when playing for team USA. Durant and James in an 82-game season would have severe chemistry issues when pressure mounts.

Damian Lillard won’t join the Lakers either

Damian Lillard is a kid from California that would love to play in his home state. The idea of such a dynamic ball-handler paired with James excites fans. But there are two things about Lillard that will make playing with James very hard.

The first is his loyalty to Portland. When LaMarcus Aldridge wanted to continue to be the face of the franchise, the Trailblazers smartly went with the younger Lillard and he has turned into a perennial all-star for them.

The second is his contract. Lillard just signed a supermax extension. The four-year deal is worth a whopping $196 million. It looks like Lillard will be in Portland for years to come.

Why other superstars won’t play with LeBron James

There’s too much pressure when playing with James. You have to worry about constant trade rumors, fitting in with him inside and outside of the locker room, and getting blamed for the team’s losses while never receiving the credit when they win.

This could stop other superstars from joining up with him because they don’t want to be a third option after being the top dog for their respective franchises.

Despite these drawbacks, the Lakers are expected to sign another max-contract player in the coming days. Check out our NBA section for all the free agent updates.