"‘What else am I playing for? We’re not playing for a title this year’" - Ric Bucher contradicts LeBron James on his “win or bust” approach, mentions he stat-padded last season

LeBron James ridiculed for stat padding on several occasions last season. [Photo: Lake Show Life]

In an episode of "The Shop," LeBron James shared his views on winning in the NBA. James asserted that he's all about winning and has "sleepless nights" when teammates don't share his "win or bust" mentality.

Fox Sports' Ric Bucher contested the four-time MVP's words. Here's what he had to say on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" regarding James' bold pronouncements:

“I’m gonna push back on this idea that LeBron is all about winning because this past season, he played an awful lot of minutes in fourth quarters where the game was decided one way or another. They were either blown out or they had a sizable lead where I had seen him in past years conserve his energy knowing that he’s playing the long game.”

James' minutes in blowouts drew criticism for stat padding.

LeBron James, in Year 19, has already played 36 minutes tonight but is still in the game, trailing by 22 with 5:08 left, to stat-pad with easy garbage-time buckets as he chases Kareem's all-time scoring record.

There were also times in those lopsided defeats that "King James" seemingly quit on defense but demanded the ball on the other end. Bucher added this to his comments:

“This year he didn’t do that. In games that he had it rolling, regardless of what the score was, he stayed out there and added to his scoring total. You can’t tell me that he was not after that scoring title this year and that he did it knowing, ‘What else am I playing for? We’re not playing for a title this year.’ That’s not all about winning.”

LeBron James is a student of the game. He knows he's approaching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record.

"I got 3 more years, 0 championships for LeBron. Next year will be all about LeBron James passing Kareem Adbul-Jabbar for the all-time scoring record. And the 2 years after will be about adding to that record to make it virtually unbreakable."

— @RealSkipBayless https://t.co/BlxCkAbdsg

LeBron could even make the record almost unreachable. However, many would criticize LeBron James' inevitable record if the points come in 'meaningless' games.

When he felt like the LA Lakers weren't going anywhere, LeBron James just went for the scoring title

LeBron James is on his way to an inevitable march to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the all-time scoring list crown. [Photo: Bleacher Report]

James hadn't averaged 30+ PPG in 13 years. The last time he achieved the feat was during the 2007-08 season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Last season, he finished with 30.3 PPG and nearly stole the scoring title from Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers.

The LA Lakers needed James to score more because Anthony Davis was out for most of the season. They also couldn't rely on Russell Westbrook consistently carrying the scoring burden.

Only .03 PPG separate LeBron James and Joel Embiid for the scoring title 👀

Over the last 50 years, the closest scoring title race was between George Gervin and David Thompson in 1977-78 (.07 PPG). https://t.co/oYlipmmS3S

For this reason, James found himself near the top of the scoring leaderboard last season. But to Bucher's point, there could have been times when he should have just sat down when the game's outcome was decided. Bucher said:

“LeBron James consistently makes business decisions. And last year, he made the business decision that ‘This is not a team that is going to get me a title, but maybe I can get a different one. I can get a scoring title.’”