Skip Bayless rates LeBron James’ performance, surprised by 38-year-old dominating the league: “These numbers he put are 28-year-old numbers”
It's not very often that Skip Bayless praises LeBron James. Known for his outspoken and often harsh criticism of James over the years, Bayless has earned quite the reputation as being one of LeBron's biggest critics. Despite that, even he had to give LeBron James props for his recent play at 37 years old.
Although the Los Angeles Lakers failed to advance in the Western Conference standings, LeBron has been turning back the clock with some vintage performances. In Wednesday's loss to the Sacramento Kings, after which the Sacramento franchise lit the now-famous beam, James put up 31 points and 11 assists. With six rebounds, he was on triple-double watch, much like he has been for many of the Lakers' recent games.
The fact that James is averaging 29.2 points through the month of December after being sidelined earlier in the season is remarkable. During a recent episode of Undisputed with Skip & Shannon, the two discussed James' incredible season so far. Much to the surprise of those watching, Bayless said:
"If I were to scale a 1-10 on this, on how impressive five straight games that he has played of 30 points, I’m going to give it a 10 because I’ve never seen anything like this. I'm not exaggerating or being sarcastic, I'm just telling you the truth. He was extremely impressive, start to finish last night, because these numbers he put up, these are 28-year-old numbers."
He continued, discussing James' impressive play in Wednesday's loss to the Kings despite the absence of Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook:
"[James] was really good. When he decided to go, he was really good. Because they couldn't keep him from the rim, he didn't shoot the ball well from three, because he hasn't all year and I don't know why but he just hasn't shot it well from the perimeter, but it doesn't matter because he can score at will."
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LeBron James' recent stretch of five 30-point games
As Bayless went on to explain, putting up 30 points in five straight games is incredibly impressive in year 20. Despite that, the team is just 13-18, winning just five of their eleven games this month.
During that time, Anthony Davis was also ruled out for at least one month with a foot injury. The injury was a crushing one, given that Davis had returned to prime form earlier this year, posting MVP-caliber numbers in spite of obvious back pain.
In addition, Russell Westbrook, who has found his rhythm in a sixth-man role, was once again posting impressive numbers earlier in the year. He found himself on the sidelines over the past week with left foot soreness, leaving the team without a key ballhandler and playmaker.
With the Lakers' woes far from over, many have predicted that the team will look to make moves early in the new year to try and save their season. From the sound of things, they could work with the Chicago Bulls to either acquire Zach LaVine or DeMar DeRozan.
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