“Why would you shoot?”: Shannon Sharpe unloads on Lebron James after his late gamble goes bust
The Los Angeles Lakers lost Game 2 against the Denver Nuggets 101-99 and amidst all the criticism is the decision-making of LeBron James during the late-game situation. Surprisingly, ESPN First Take co-host Shannon Sharpe is one of the sports personalities who went against the four-time NBA MVP.
Just to recap, the ball was in the hands of LeBron James with the game tied at 99-all with 29.4 seconds left. Coming off from an Anthony Davis screen, the 20-time NBA All-Star maximized the opportunity to take an open shot after defender Kentavious Caldwell-Pope fell on the ground at the 18.3-second mark but missed.
Denver Nuggets then rallied back to the offensive end after a rebound by Michael Porter Jr. with 14.5 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. Slowing down the pace was Jamal Murray taking time to read the defense and found himself being guarded by Anthony Davis.
Making his move at the 3.2-second mark, Murray drove right against Davis and shot a fadeaway on the side. Ball goes in as the buzzer sounded, bringing the Nuggets series lead to a commanding 2-0 against the Lakers.
As the dust settles down, basketball analysts give their take on the series of events during the Lakers-Nuggets game and Shannon Sharpe was not happy with LeBron James' shot selection.
"I don't understand. There is a six second differential on the shot clock and the game clock. Why would LeBron take a shot with 13-seconds left on the clock?" asks Sharpe on his podcast Nightcap. "You still have seven seconds to play. You want to give them as little time on the clock as you possibly can, why would you shoot that shot?" [1:10 onwards]
LeBron James rues game officiating during Lakers-Nuggets Game 2 clash
The Los Angeles Lakers were owning a 20-point lead by halftime and that was slowly tapered until Jamal Murray's buzzer-beater.
Right after the game, LeBron James called out the officials, saying that there were missed calls that led them to lose a comfortable lead by the end of the fourth quarter.
"I don't understand what's going on in the replay center, to be honest. What f--- do we have a replay center for?" asks James. "It makes no sense to me... What are we doing?"
Game 3 of the NBA Western Conference playoff matchup between the defending champion Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers is set to happen at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California on April 25.