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“LeBron would give you a 50 piece, and they would lose” - Skip Bayless believes there’s no case for LeBron James to be selected over KD in the All-NBA voting, cites his struggles in the clutch

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers; LeBron James celebrating in the fourth quarter.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers; LeBron James celebrating in the fourth quarter.

Skip Bayless argued LeBron James has no case to be selected over Kevin Durant for All-NBA voting. The analyst claimed that Durant should be chosen as he is more reliable in the clutch

LeBron James struggles in the clutch according to analyst

Skip outlined:

“LeBron would give you a 50 piece and they would lose.”

LeBron James scored 50 points or more on two occasions this season.

The first was against the Golden State Warriors, where James scored 54 points. L.A. won that game 124-116. The second game was against Washington, when James scored 50 points and the Lakers won 122-109.

As a result, Bayless’ claims about James not showing up in the clutch seem unfounded. The Lakers finished in 11th place in the Western Conference and failed to make the playoffs with their super squad. However, LeBron James finished the season having averaged 30.3 points-per-game at 37-years-old.

This is not to take any light away from Kevin Durant, as the Brooklyn leader is known as arguably the most dominant scorer in the game. But the Nets got swept in the first round. Neither LeBron James nor KD gathered a single playoff win this season regardless of their scoring abilities.

After having very similar seasons with should-be reliable squads, both LeBron and Durant’s abilities in the clutch should be in question. At least James averaged a league-high in points for the latter half of his season. LeBron has only been swept in a series twice in his career.

James has swept other teams in playoff series’ 10 times and remains the only player in history to win over 20 consecutive games in the first round. Accolades like these do not read like LeBron is a player that fails in the clutch.

Skip Bayless has a notorious history of not believing in LeBron and making absurd claims arguably just for views. Most of his takes are hot takes against great players where most believe otherwise. The analyst and James do not have a friendly headline history.

As a result, Skip’s opinion favoring Durant over LeBron makes sense if you understand his personal bias. James has most definitely proved himself reliable in the clutch over the years.

Using that as an excuse to denounce him being chosen for All-NBA over Kevin Durant, whose squad also failed in the clutch, seems rather weightless.

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