“Lakers have lost 15 of their last 20, that’s hard to fathom when you have LeBron freakin’ James” - Skip Bayless believes it’s all about scoring over winning now for LeBron James
NBA and LA Lakers superstar LeBron James and his scoring prowess this season has been commended by the NBA world but has also brought about scrutiny on his team's current state of affairs.
On Fox Sports' morning show Skip and Shannon: Undisputed, sports media personality Skip Bayless criticized King James for chasing numbers rather than trying to win games for the Lakers. Bayless said:
"This was very troubling to me because he is such a great player and now to me, he has completely unplugged when it comes to trying to win games. To me, it's all about scoring. I still believe he can win the scoring title this year. That's his focus right now. Yet if you step back from this, his Lakers have lost 15 of their last 20, that's hard to fathom when you have LeBron Freakin' James."
LeBron James has been the only beacon of hope for the Lakers this season. The team came into the campaign with championship aspirations and have performed nothing like it. Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis have contributed to the poor season the Lakers are currently having.
"LeBron has completely unplugged when it comes to trying to win games. It's all about scoring. The Lakers have lost 15 of their last 20. That's hard to fathom when you have LeBron Freakin' James."
— @RealSkipBayless https://t.co/VJ8FJt0ySG
LeBron James' chase for the scoring title in Year 19
LeBron James, throughout his illustrious career, has earned the moniker of being an iron man, as he is in the 19th season of his career and has hardly had a serious injury. This has also translated to his performances as King James is still very much the king of the mountaintop in the NBA at age 37.
It's almost unfathomable to even think of a player being in his 19th season in the league to be competing for the scoring title, but that is what King James is doing at the moment. He is second in the league for points per game at 29.7, as Joel Embiid leads the league in that aspect by averaging 29.9.
LeBron James finished with 56 pts & 10 rebs in the Lakers' 124-116 win over the Warriors.
At age 37, he is oldest player in NBA history to record at least 55 pts & 10 rebs in a game.
He's also the 1st Laker with a 55-10 game since Shaquille O'Neal in March 2000. https://t.co/yik81ys8Wd
What makes this even more remarkable is that James is being played as the center for the Lakers by head coach Frank Vogel, which is uncharted territory for the forward and he is still managing to average 29.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists while shooting the ball better than 52% from the field and over 36% from the perimeter.
James has attempted a career-high number of shots from beyond the arc this season. He continues to do most of his damage from range rather than clanging and banging while attacking the rim.
While the Lakers have definitely had a disappointing season, LeBron James continues to re-write the history books and chase Michael Jordan for the title of the the greatest player of all time.