Rich Eisen questions LeBron James looking complacent after 0-4 start: “Who is LeBron playing with?... Is he just tapped out”
LeBron James and the LA Lakers have had a rough start. Game after game, the team looks absolutely lost on offense. With an atrocious, league-worst, 22.3% 3-point shooting percentage, teams are allowing the Lakers (0-4) to fire away. Unfortunately, they have continued to miss. Many are wondering what the Lakers can do to turn this season around.
Coach Darvin Ham said that he believes the team just needs more time to build chemistry. On the other side, fans and critics have wondered whether a midseason trade for a shooter would help. In both situations, the Lakers are left in a middle ground where they have no immediate solutions to their problems.
According to analyst Rich Eisen, there's something fishy about LeBron James' complacency throughout the start of the season. Considering the team is winless, Eisen thinks James should show more of a sense of urgency.
"Who is he playing with? He was fine with this? He sat around all summer or is he just tapped out?" Eisen said on 'The Rich Eisen Show.' "I'm serious when I say 'tapped out.' Is it just like he likes where he's living, his next world is set up? It doesn't matter to him that his best result might be the play-in? I never thought this about LeBron. Is he just content? He can't be."
You can catch his comments below beginning shortly after the one-minute mark.
Is LeBron James planning to be in LA until Bronny’s draft?
There is one theory as to why LeBron James is content to stay with the Lakers despite the team's ongoing struggles. As James has said, he wants to play with both of his sons in the NBA, something that has never been done before. As it stands right now, his two-year extension with the Lakers would take him to when his oldest son could enter the league.
Of course, Bronny James, a senior at Sierra Canyon School, hasn't proven himself to be the generational talent his father has. Despite that, a team may take a chance on him to get LeBron James. The theory right now is that a team would draft Bronny in 2024 before then signing his dad to a short-term deal.
Of course, fans in LA seem hesitant to draft Bronny James just to keep his father around. With the Lakers no longer looking like championship contenders, many are eager for the front office to take action. Whether or not any potential action is taken in the coming weeks or months remains to be seen.
The Lakers take on the Minnesota Timberwolves (3-2) on Friday night. The team, led by the trio of Karl-Anthony Townes, Rudy Gobert and DeAngelo Russell, is tied for sixth in the West.