One doesn’t have to be a basketball savant to realize that the Los Angeles Lakers aren’t going to compete this season.
Even if they were to make a big move — which they’re not — they’d still need to get hot right now to straighten the ship and start going toe-to-toe with contenders.
That’s why some fans and analysts speculated about LeBron James‘ future when the 38-year-old started talking about his ambitions in the league:
“I think about how much longer I’m gonna play the game. I think about that I don’t wanna finish my career playing at this level, from a team aspect. I wanna still be able to compete for championships ’cause I know what I can bring to any ball club with the right pieces,” James said last week.
Notably, those comments didn’t sit well with Skip Bayless, who thinks LeBron openly quit on the season already:
“It still felt to me like he was giving up on the season, and I believe that’s the message that got sent to his teammates,” Bayless said on Undisputed. “And it’s obviously way too early to give up on the season.”
https://twitter.com/undisputed/status/1608862153787801602
Bayless has taken endless shots at James throughout his career, so this comes as no surprise.
But, realistically speaking, the Lakers have little-to-nothing to play at this point.
They don’t even own their first-round pick this season, so tanking won’t do them any good, either.
So, other than breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s all-time scoring record, there’s not much incentive for LeBron to go out there and try to carry this team to the postseason.
NEXT: Has Russell Westbrook Found His Groove With The Lakers?