"Excuses, excuses" - Skip Bayless accuses LeBron James of exaggerating the extent of his ankle injury
Skip Bayless has questioned the extent of LA Lakers star LeBron James' ankle injury on Twitter.
James went down in the first half of the game against the Pelicans on Sunday after rolling his ankle while trying to grab a rebound. He seemed to be in a great deal of discomfort immediately but managed to shrug it off and continue to play the rest of the match.
However, James mentioned after the match that his injury was "horrible" and that he hopes it doesn't force him to miss any more games moving forward. Bayless, meanwhile, was doubtful if James had suffered a serious injury, though, as he carried on playing for the rest of the game.
Here's what the Fox Sports analyst tweeted:
"Here we go again: LeBron just said the ankle he turned is "horrible" ... but that he doesn't anticipate missing games. Wait, he hopped right up & kept making 3s (after a 1st air ball). Did he look limpy? No. Seem to be protecting or favoring his ankle? No. Excuses, excuses."
Here we go again: LeBron just said the ankle he turned is "horrible" ... but that he doesn't anticipate missing games. Wait, he hopped right up & kept making 3s (after a 1st air ball). Did he look limpy? No. Seem to be protecting or favoring his ankle? No. Excuses, excuses.
LeBron James said that he had lost his "explosiveness" and that he operated more from the perimeter in the second half due to the injury. He kept it going from three-point range as well, as he knocked down seven of 13 shots from deep during the game. The 37-year-old finished the match with 39 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
LeBron James came to the postgame podium with his left ankle wrapped up. On the injury: "I have no idea how I finished the game." Says it's "horrible" at the moment.
LeBron James and co. blow 23-point lead in loss to fellow play-in hopefuls New Orleans Pelicans
The LA Lakers had the golden opportunity to record a win against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday. They dominated the first half of the match, entering halftime with a 20-point lead. LA was arguably at the best they've been all season as they managed to put in an efficient two-way performance through the first two quarters.
However, they once again failed to replicate their efforts down the stretch. LeBron James and co. were outscored 39-67 in the second half, which eventually led to their 108-116 loss. They have now lost their season series against New Orleans.
The Lakers also potentially threw out their chance of having homecourt advantage in their ninth-tenth seeding play-in game against CJ McCollum and co.
Bron dropped 39 PTS but the Lakers blew a 23-point lead to the Pels... https://t.co/v32yrSyQXK
LA entered the match 0.5 games ahead of the Pelicans as the ninth seed. However, New Orleans' win has now swapped the two teams' seedings. The Lakers have a 31-43 record and face a legitimate possibility of not making the play-in tournament altogether.
They find themselves just a game ahead of the San Antonio Spurs, who are 11th with a 30-44 record. The 17-time NBA champions have the second-toughest schedule remaining, while the Spurs have the 13th-toughest schedule moving forward.
The Lakers will be hoping LeBron James is available for the final eight games of the season. If he's sidelined again, the odds of them missing the play-in tournament could increase drastically.