“At this point, he’s not capable of carrying what is a mediocre supporting cast to victory” - Skip Bayless on LeBron James' current struggles with the LA Lakers
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LeBron James' LA Lakers suffered another disappointing loss to the Sacramento Kings in their last outing and have once again become a .500 team. The Lakers have failed to go on a sold streak and have maintained their position in the middle of the pack as they currently sit seventh in the West.
The loss has sparked a lot of reaction from the NBA community, with LeBron James' biggest critic, sports analyst Skip Bayless, also weighing in. While no team in the NBA can be written off, many see these inconsistent results pointing to a potentially depressing season from a stacked Lakers team.
On the latest episode of "Skip and Shannon: Undisputed," Bayless reacted to the most recent Lakers defeat, pointing out that they were favorites to win the Western Conference heading into the season.
"The Lakers, which I had forgotten actually, were prohibitive favorites to win the West. Let's call it consensus, maybe not prohibitive, but consensus favorites to win by all the betting sites to win the Western Conference. They have plummeted to 21-21 and we are more than halfway through this basketball season."
Skip did take a moment to speak about the fact that LeBron James is playing at an MVP caliber level despite his age and just how phenomenal that is.
"I'm about to get to Russell Westbrick, but first, I can't let LeBron go blameless for last night. He's still obviously a top-five player. You can make the case he's a top-three player. You can also make the case he's been on an MVP kind of tear over his last 15 games, 20 games. He's wound up with 34 more points last night. Pretty special, given that he just turned 37 in his 19th year."
However, Bayless closed off his remarks in much different vain, suggesting that LeBron James' wonderful displays night in and night out are of little consequence. If James' team does not start offering him more support. His amazing individual season so far, full of age-defying performances, might be just that when the campaign is all said and done.
"Here's the bottom line takeaway, Skip added. As great as he is at 37, and I will give you this, he's having as great a 37-year-old, 19th year as we've ever seen. Who could argue that? But he's still, at this point, he's not capable of carrying what is a mediocre supporting cast to victory, even at Sacramento. He can't sustain."
"As great as LeBron is at age 37 — and he's having the greatest 19th year we've ever seen — he's still not capable of carrying what is a mediocre supporting cast to victory."
— @RealSkipBayless on Lakers falling to .500 in road loss to Kings https://t.co/TIT00D61VX
One would imagine that it is becoming increasingly difficult for James to maintain his momentum from start to finish over the course of an entire game given his age. A younger version of LeBron James would have possibly been able to seal the win for the team following such a hot start.
But James is at the stage in his career where he can only put his team in a position to win. He now desperately needs the help of his supporting cast to close out games and secure the win.
Can LeBron James' LA Lakers contend for the NBA title?
The competition in the West is stiff, and it does not look like the Lakers will be able to win a seven-game series against any of the top four teams right now. Although LeBron James has often spoken about how they have never been fully healthy, Los Angeles is not playing like a team hungry for success even with the available players.
LeBron is leading the league in 30 point games…crazy 👑
(h/t @_Talkin_NBA ) https://t.co/FOnXtYErcx
LeBron has done all a leader can do to spur his team to victories. He has led by example on the court every other night, and on most of those nights none of the Lakers have been able to match the intensity of the 37-year-old.
So far, LeBron James is the second-best scorer in the league, averaging 29.1 points behind the Brooklyn Nets' Kevin Durant. Although he is dominating games, the Lakers are not getting as many wins as they would like.
It will take some doing to turn things around, which might be facilitated by a roster change. The Lakers have indicated an interest in All-Star players like Ben Simmons, whose run with the Philadelphia 76ers is over, according to Jay Williams, but might not have the assets to complete a trade. One thing is for sure, something needs to change for the Purple and Gold.