LeBron James’ new podcast, Mind The Game, gives the four-time champion a chance to share his thoughts on all things basketball, both good and bad.
On the latest episode, he spoke with co-host JJ Redick about one aspect of the modern NBA that upsets him.
“There’s a narrative of this thing called ‘I have a bag.’ It bothers the f— out of me. Everyone thinks that just because you get a favorable matchup, that means it’s 1 on 1 time,” James said, via Legion Hoops.
He added, “What the f— is this? This is not Jordan versus Bird Nintendo.”
LeBron:
“There’s a narrative of this thing called ‘I have a bag.’ It bothers the f*** out of me. Everyone thinks that just because you get a favorable matchup, that means it’s 1 on 1 time…. what the f*** is this? This is not Jordan vs Bird Nintendo.”
(via @mindthegamepod) pic.twitter.com/kByyXBwASZ
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) March 27, 2024
James seems to have a problem with the idea of basketball being about one-on-one matchups.
Instead, he rightfully believes that it’s a team game and that all players need to get involved in order to earn a win.
There are many matchups these days that attract a ton of attention, such as the ones between James and Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Wembanyama, and others.
But James doesn’t want the focus to solely be on him versus one other player and would prefer that the entire team gets noticed.
On Tuesday night it was James’ team, not him, who scored one of the most stunning wins of the season.
James sat out of the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks and they were able to rally and overcome a huge deficit, getting a massive win in double overtime.
Anthony Davis stepped up to lead the team without James and scored 34 points and 23 rebounds, while Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell both recorded 29 points.
This was an enormously important victory for the Lakers it made James’ point: basketball is not a one-on-one sport.
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