“Diva” LeBron James Called Out By Skip Bayless For Questionable Decision To Hand Nuggets Game 1

Veteran analyst Skip Bayless had a field day as the LA Lakers‘ adversity took center stage. The 72-year-old Fox Sports presenter, who has a reputation for taking shots at LeBron James, pulled a big one on him after the game. The 39-year-old superstar alongside Anthony Davis went off to a flying start against the Denver Nuggets, entering the locker room after the first half with a lead. However, after the break, the 4x NBA Champion was completely off his rhythm and barely contributed in the last quarter.

After the game, Bayless was quick to pounce on James’ game and called him a ‘Diva’. He added, “LeBron James can be such a Diva. I just watched him play the last 9 minutes at Denver and take two shots once the game was completely over because he wanted to make a point. He pouted those last minutes because he was so stung by the criticism… for the fourth-quarter flameouts.” 

LeBron James couldn’t make any impact in the last quarter even though the side showed some resistance bringing down the deficit from 15 to 6 points. The superstar could drop only 4 points in the last quarter and one of them came when only 35 seconds were left in the game. Speaking of that, Bayless said that James dropped the uncontested layup at the end only to beat the allegations.

The Akron Hammer has a fourth-quarter ‘no show’ criticism tied to him since his Miami Heat days. Even ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has brought out a similar criticism, particularly pointing out James’ failure in the 2011 NBA Finals. During that series, the Heat lost three straight games after a 2-1 series lead. In that series, during Game 4 and Game 5, James scored 0 and 2 points, respectively.

Speaking of it, A. Smith recently said, “You weren’t that dude in 2011…I don’t give a damn about no roster. You had D-Wade. You had Chris Bosh … that was not about your roster. That was about you,” criticizing James’ failure in the fourth quarter.

Skip Bayless drags Micheal Jordan and Kobe Bryant into the debate

After calling the superstar a ‘diva’, he dived deeper into analyzing the fourth quarter. He recalled that the Lakers with the ball possession had the opportunity to cut the lead down to four around the fifth minute mark. He argued that James intentionally refused to take the shot and left it to D’Angelo Russell.

Speaking of D’Lo, Bayless fired a shot at the guard for his poor shooting night, who shot at 30% from the field. He wrote, “COME ON, DLO, LOCK IN AND AT LEAST HAVE THE GUTS TO MAKE THE EASY ONES,” on his X handle.

After raining down criticisms on the superstar, Bayless had an interesting way to end his monologue. He concluded, “How could anybody watch something like that and think this guy was the GOAT. You think Kobe would have done that, you think Jordan would have done that. It was just an embarrassment. It was just so LeBron James.” 

Will King James have a response to Bayless in the next game? Let us know in the comments.