ICYMI: LeBron James lashes out at teammates for not getting a defensive rebound as LA Lakers suffer another blowout loss
LeBron James' frustrations boiled over during the LA Lakers' home game against the Toronto Raptors. The Lakers struggled massively on the boards, with Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard sidelined for the match. LA were down by 19 points midway through the second quarter, when LeBron made an angry gesture by bouncing the ball off the court as the Lakers struggled to grab a rebound.
Here's a clip of the incident (via Hoop Central):
LeBron is upset. 😳
https://t.co/zWTvEgpl8Z
The Lakers trailed the Raptors 6-30 at one stage in the first quarter. LeBron James and Co. were simply outplayed by the young Toronto team that was coming off back-to-back road wins over the Suns and the Nuggets, two of the top six teams in the Western Conference standings.
James was the leading scorer for the Lakers again as he bagged 30 points on the night to go along with nine rebounds, shooting 11 of 19 from the floor, including four of nine from long range.
LeBron ends up with 30 points, after scoring 14 in the 4th Q.
LeBron James skips media session after LA Lakers 103-114 blowout loss to Toronto Raptors
LeBron James has maintained his composure this season, despite the LA Lakers' struggles. He seems to have reached his breaking point with the team's disappointing performances, though. After his furious reaction to the Lakers not grabbing a rebound, the 'King' decided to skip the post-game press conference.
This was only the second time James was unavailable for a media session this season. The first instance was on January 15th when James snubbed the post-game press conference as the Lakers were blown out by the Denver Nuggets by a 37-point margin.
He justified his absence at the time by saying:
“I didn’t like what was going to come out of my mouth,” James said on Monday, via Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. “So I decided not to speak with you guys.”
That could certainly be the case for LeBron's absence from the media availability session this time as well. The LA Lakers' lack of energy and effort on both ends of the floor has been their biggest shortcoming. They gave up some solid defensive players like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma and Alex Caruso last offseason.
Those moves haven't paid off at all as the current Lakers roster is short of defensive wings and a reliable backup center in the absence of Anthony Davis. LeBron James and Co. desperately need to find their rhythm soon if they are to pose a threat in the play-in tournament and eventually the playoffs if they manage to make it to the postseason.