When Skip Bayless made fun of LeBron James' weight in 2021, calling him "overweight": "I did think I noticed some love handles"
Notorious Fox Sports analyst Skip Bayless made headlines before last season when he fired shots at LA Lakers superstar forward LeBron James' weight.
Bayless has made a career off of hating on James, mostly on talk shows like “First Take” and “Skip and Shannon: Undisputed.” He has also taken his criticism of James on social media with increasing frequency. This includes during his home workout videos where he often wakes up early to work out before the crack of dawn.
However, Bayless’ criticisms of LeBron James' weight loss particularly stood out to fans due to the absurdity of his comments.
In September 2021, Skip Bayless tweeted his rant about LeBron James' weight with the caption:
“SAY IT AIN’T SO, LEBRON! WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE WARRIOR WORKOUTS YOU POSTED EVERY OTHER DAY LAST SEASON?”
In the video, he then proceeded to criticize James for reportedly slimming down in the offseason. The reason was that Bayless, now age 70, said that he has been able to maintain physical fitness for his entire adult life. He thinks James should be able to as well.
“Hey LeBron, I’m in the middle of my Saturday run. As you know, Saturday and Sunday are my two hardest runs of the week. Did I hear your GM say, (Rob) Pelinka, that you’ve slimmed up for this season?” Bayless said.
“I was so disappointed. I thought you were in the greatest shape of anybody in the history of professional basketball. Does that mean you were a little, dare I say it, overweight last year?
“I did think I noticed some love handles. Man, I’ve been the same weight, same body fat, for like 30 years. I’m 5.0%, LeBron. Does that mean, you had love handles last year?” Bayless continued.
SAY IT AIN’T SO, LEBRON! WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE WARRIOR WORKOUTS YOU POSTED EVERY OTHER DAY LAST SEASON? https://t.co/L1hQHDRt2n
Of course, there’s obviously a big difference between maintaining physical fitness as a professional athlete versus an elderly man doing cardio to stay slim. Skip Bayless probably knows this and was likely just taking any opportunity he could get to take a shot at LeBron James' weight.
Also read: Skip Bayless’ Twitter reaction to LA Lakers’ loss: “3 future Laker Hall of Famers … it has little to no impact on the scoreboard”
Did LeBron James' weight loss affect his 2021-2022 NBA season?
It’s unclear exactly if LeBron James’ weight loss was a big factor in his personal success last season. But it’s worth noting that James averaged the second-most points per game of his career last season.
James averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game on 52.4% shooting. Sure, his defense wasn’t the same as when he was in his prime. But all things considered, James still had the best season ever for someone in their 19th NBA season.
Of course, that didn’t matter to Skip Bayless though. Bayless moved on from talking about LeBron James' weight and instead criticized him for putting up empty stats. Bayless also highly enjoyed watching the Lakers’ season fall apart as the team finished 33-49 and 11th in the Western Conference.
It’s pretty clear James can’t win when it comes to Bayless, which is probably why he’s opted to just ignore him throughout his whole career.
Also read: LeBron James downplays the narrative of getting beaten by "Father Time" after latest injury: "I've been fine... Not like I've sat out every game this season"