“Kevin got to join that flow, and he fit right in” - Skip Bayless says LeBron James envies Kevin Durant’s success with the Warriors, believes Jeanie Buss will not be pleased with LeBron’s comments
LeBron James recently hinted that he would like to play with the Golden State Warriors, sending the NBA community into a frenzy. However, Skip Bayless believes the LA Lakers front office will not be pleased with these comments.
In a snippet from an unreleased episode of "The Shop," James said that between the Boston Celtics and Warriors, he would prefer to play with the latter. Fans have come at the four-time NBA champ for his comments, even saying he wants to deny Steph Curry the NBA Finals MVP award.
Speaking on "Undisputed: Skip and Bayless," Bayless opined that LeBron James' comments were starting to become disrespectful towards the Lakers front office. He pointed out that James' words were very intentional, saying:
"Why does he keep bringing this up? If you're Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka and now Darvin Ham, do you love it that he keeps suggesting, 'How about me and Golden State?' If I'm Jeanie Buss, I'm not pleased with this because he just keeps on keeping on and now you've got a new coach."
Bayless added:
"Right on top of Darvin Ham's pretty sensational opening salvo press conference, I was impressed, I liked it. He was doing, 'I'm the new sheriff in town,' and Rob Pelinka was talking about 'this is a great day for Laker basketball.' Your best player is talking about Golden State. He's dropping more hints about Golden State."
He continued:
"I understand the premise because LeBron looked at what Kevin Durant did back in 2017. The reason he chose them was A, I believe he wanted to go up against LeBron in the finals because he knew it was collision course because those teams were destined to meet again and again, and they did and they did."
After analyzing the Warriors' style of play, he continued:
"The point is Lebron envies what Kevin did because Kevin got to join that flow and he fit right in because he's very efficient and he's not a ball hog. He's not a gunner. So, Kevin Durant was able to do exactly what he does best within the confines of an offense that clearly featured him just enough that he would be the MVP of back-to-back finals."
Bayless concluded:
"So, Lebron sort of looks at, gee I wish I could do what Kevin did, except Kevin did it to Lebron in back-to-back finals. So, I think there's still some envy there, 'I wish I could do that.' Unfortunately, you are a Laker, you're being paid a ton of money by the Lakers for at least one more year. There's no reason to be dangling that out there."
The episode will be released on Friday, June 10, and fans will get an idea of the context.
LeBron James has previously said he would like to play with Steph Curry
In an older episode of The Shop, LeBron James was asked which player he would love to play with before he retires. His answer shocked the NBA community as he mentioned Steph Curry.
You can watch the video here (from 30:00):
LeBron James has never hidden how much he admires Curry despite their rivalry. The All-Star guard was a crucial part of the Warriors team that denied LBJ the title in three out of four consecutive NBA Finals.
Regardless, James has stated that outside of his son Bronny, the other player he would love to play with is Curry. Both superstars have played together in their last two All-Star games, and James seems to like their partnership.