Getty LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
Following the Los Angeles Lakers’ dismal end to last season, every member of their roster has come in for some degree of criticism, none more so than LeBron James.
Of course, Skip Bayless is usually at the front of the line when it comes to leveling some criticism LeBron’s way, something which has caused multiple fans to accuse the Fox Sports analyst of using LeBron to further his career.
However, during a July 21 episode of The Skip Bayless Show, the analyst ensured to share his response and took further aim at LeBron while doing so.
In this week’s episode, I respond to the claim that I have built my career on tearing down LeBron James. My response is here.
via @SkipBaylessShow:
“I’m not trying to tear him down because he does that himself. He tears himself down by missing all those threes and missing all those FTs, but just this past regular season, LeBron finished 93rd in the NBA in three-point shooting, while taking the 15th most three-point shots. That math doesn’t work for me,” Bayless said during the show.
Bayless Took Aim at LeBron Following Drew League
LeBron might be getting up there in age, but he’s still a basketball purist at heart, and he showed that to the world when he decided to participate in this year’s Drew League. Of course, LeBron did LeBron things and came away from the contest as the clear-cut dominant force everybody expected him to be.
The self-proclaimed king ended the contest with 42 points, 16 rebounds, four steals, and three assists while shooting 50% from the field but just 15.4% from deep as he went two-for-13. However, it would seem that Bayless was less than impressed with what he saw from LeBron, as he took to Twitter to share his displeasure with the performance.
Love it that LeBron played in the Drew League today. But: he shot only 2-13 from three??? He missed the late free throw that would’ve at least clinched overtime? Some things never change.
Still, this was the first time we had seen LeBron playing basketball since the Lakers season ended in unceremonious fashion, and the fact that he looked in fantastic shape was enough to get Lakers fans excited for the coming season.
LeBron Could Leave Lakers
With just a year left on his current contract, LeBron James will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season – unless an agreement on an extension is reached in the coming months.
While LeBron hasn’t given any indication of a desire to leave Lakerland, the fact remains that he has a history of moving teams when becoming a free agent, so if the front office wishes to keep him around long-term, they need to get a deal in place as soon as possible.
According to an Eastern Conference executive, who spoke with Heavy.com under the condition of anonymity, LeBron could look to find a new team next summer if the Lakers continue to slide and fail to improve their current roster.
“It is possible (that LeBron leaves the Lakers). Of course, it is. Who thought Kevin Durant was a flight risk two months ago? Things change and players are taking more and more power and no one has more power than LeBron—if he wants out, he will get out. They had the injuries last year and the year before, and pretty much every year that he has been there except the championship year.
That’s not the organization’s fault. And the personnel, he had a lot of say on that, you can’t put that all on the organization. But it has not been a completely happy marriage and he could be a free agent next summer, a lot of teams will have cap room. It’s not his first choice, leaving. But it is not off the table, it would seem,” The executive told Heavy.com’s, Sean Deveney.
Of course, winning usually solves everything, so if the Lakers can get back on track, and begin challenging for NBA Championships again, LeBron will likely remain in purple and gold for a couple more years. But still, it’s certainly a storyline worth keeping an eye on in the coming months.