"LeBron did not impose his will soon enough" - Skip Bayless on what stirred Dillon Brooks to call LeBron James 'old'
LeBron James and the LA Lakers managed to take Game 1 against the Grizzlies, but Game 2 was a different story. Multiple players on Memphis' supporting cast stepped up in a big way to tie the series without the services of Ja Morant.
Over the course of the year, the Grizzlies have been known to engage in trash talk. Most notably, forward Dillon Brooks. During the second half of Game 2, he did everything he could to get under LeBron's skin.
After getting into an exchange with LeBron, Brooks let him know that he's not the player he once was. He also went out of his way to call the 19-time All-Star old.
Dillon Brooks doesn't care 👀 https://t.co/WVTTU7asVE
Following these postgame comments from Brooks, Skip Bayless touched on LeBron James during an episode of "Undisputed." He feels that LeBron opened the door for this by not taking over the game sooner than he did.
"Because LeBron did not impose his will soon enough on Dillon Brooks last night, he opened the door for Dillon Brooks to do what you just saw.
"If the Lakers win that game and go up 2-0 going home, do you think Dillon Brooks is going to say that after the game?"
.@RealSkipBayless says the Grizzlies had "no business" winning Game 2:
"LeBron can take Dillon Brooks to school whenever he decides. He didn't impose his will soon enough." https://t.co/Yz75gDi0bC
LeBron played 38 minutes in Game 2 and finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds and three assists.
Is Skip Bayless right about LeBron James not imposing his will soon enough?
As far as not imposing his will soon enough, LeBron James was pretty consistent throughout all of Game 2. His scoring was distributed throughout the entire game, with eight of them coming in the final period.
The only major change you could make to LeBron's Game 2 performance is his three-point shooting. He attempted eight shots from beyond the arc and only converted one of them. With a small player like Dillon Brooks matched up against him, he should have looked to operate more in the mid-post where he can utilize his size advantage.
Outside of his poor three-point shooting, there wasn't much more LeBron or the LA Lakers could do. The Memphis Grizzlies had no intentions of going down 0-2 in the series, and out-played the Lakers on both ends.
Skip Bayless might feel that a better LeBron performance would have stopped Dillon Brooks, but that likely isn't the case. When he is on the floor, he is looking to get under his opponent's skin. No matter what is going on in the game, he would have found a way to take a shot at LeBron.