"You need this to distract people from your latest epic failure" - Skip Bayless taunts LeBron James to "go for the scoring title" after Joel Embiid's 30-piece vs Toronto Raptors
Skip Bayless continued to fire shots at LeBron James as the 37-year-old sat out the LA Lakers' game against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
The Purple and Gold were officially knocked out of the play-in tournament after their loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.
However, James still has a chance to win the scoring title. He is in a tight race for the title with the Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid.
In a tweet, Bayless stated that James needed to win the scoring title to distract people from his failure to lead the star-studded Lakers to the playoffs. The tweet reads:
"At least Embiid didn't go for 50 tonight at Toronto. He had 30. Come on, Bron, go for the scoring title. You need to play 2 more games. So play tomorrow night at home vs 24-56 OKC then Sunday at Denver. You need this to distract people from your latest epic failure."
At least Embiid didn't go for 50 tonight at Toronto. He had 30. Come on, Bron, go for the scoring title. You need to play 2 more games. So play tomorrow night at home vs 24-56 OKC then Sunday at Denver. You need this to distract people from your latest epic failure.
James is currently in second place on the scoring charts with 30.3 PPG. Embiid has taken over the first position with 30.4 PPG after his exploits against the Indiana Pacers and the Toronto Raptors.
Embiid recorded 30 points and 10 rebounds in the 76ers 119-114 loss to the Raptors on Thursday.
The Lakers have only missed the playoffs 12 times in their 74-year history.
7 of those have come in the last 9 seasons. https://t.co/6R45ZCfxSK
James has two games in hand to claim the scoring title. He has certainly been the LA Lakers' only ray of hope. With the team now knocked out of the play-in tournament, the scoring title would be a good consolation for all the good work that he has done.
James is currently out due to an ankle injury. However, if he feels better, the Akron native will definitely take to the court and make a push to win the scoring title.
LeBron James has had a terrific season individually
LeBron James came into the 2021-22 campaign with a star-studded team that featured Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony.
The LA Lakers were the preseason favorites, but things didn't seem to work out well for them from the very start. Injuries also caused a lot of problems as they did not have their entire team available for the majority of the season.
LeBron last 5 games:
38 PTS in 40 MINS
39 PTS in 42 MINS
38 PTS in 41 MINS
38 PTS in 36 MINS
36 PTS in 45 MINS
Yeah, he’s going for the scoring title. https://t.co/3Fv0XBbVZZ
James missed out on a bunch of games due to abdominal injuries. However, once he was back, the King was all locked in. He played aggressively and went on scoring sprees that helped the Lakers find some spark on the offensive end.
Anthony Davis was another player who was in and out due to injuries. This meant that James had to solely take responsibility for the team. The 37-year-old did what he could, but despite his best efforts, the Purple and Gold were not able to bag wins with consistency.
Players to average 30+ PPG and miss the playoffs since 2006:
LeBron James
Stephen Curry
Bradley Beal https://t.co/eVJ6DDas07
To put this into numbers, the LA Lakers have lost 18 games when LeBron James has scored 30 points or more this season.
Playing in Year 19, James is averaging 37.2 minutes per game this season, which is the fifth-highest in the league. He has played through multiple injuries and niggles, proving he is one of the best players to ever grace the court.