"He SHOULD get 15 or 20 rebounds!" - Skip Bayless questions LeBron James inability to average more than 7 rebounds for career
Fox Sports commentator Skip Bayless, a longtime LeBron James critic, was back at it again after the LA Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 117-111 in Game 4 on Monday night.
The Lakers lead the Western Conference first-round series 3-1. James was impactful, making the game-tying layup with less than one second remaining to send the game to overtime. He had 22 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists.
Bayless goes after LeBron James once again
Bayless was not impressed by James’ performance. The Fox Sports host instead found ways to pick holes in what James did on Monday night. Bayless said James should always have rebounding performances like he posted in Game 4.
“How can a guy who is 6’9” and 260 pounds who can jump through the roof, how can he average, for his career, 7.5 rebounds? I don’t get it,” Bayless said.
Despite his size, James often plays more outside the paint and operates like a point guard. James shoots perimeter shots and makes plays from outside as a passer. His days of post-ups and backing down smaller players are in the past.
Thus, James often grabs rebounds when crashing the glass and is not a force in the paint cleaning up trash to post higher rebound numbers.
Bayless continued with his criticism, saying no one should be surprised by James’ performance because the Grizzlies had such a bad shooting night.
“Memphis shot the ball 106 times and only made 42,” Bayless said. “So, look at how many missed shots there were. The Grizzlies shot enough bricks to build another Graceland."
The Grizzlies shot 42 of 106 (39.6%). They were even worse from long range, shooting 9 of 42 from the 3-point line (a dismal 21.4%).
“Am I shocked LeBron got 20 rebounds when Memphis shot that many bricks?" Bayless said. "No, I am not. In fact, he should have gotten 20 rebounds in a game like that."
James and the Lakers travel to Memphis for Game 5 on Wednesday.