A sudden uproar broke out at the Chase Center 4 hours before the NBA All-Star game this past Sunday. The epicenter of it was the parking lot. Soon the picture became clear — LeBron James had arrived. After dapping up his boys in the locker room and attending to his backstage duties, LeBron headed to the media room as the cameras followed him. And then he dropped the pipe bomb. “You won’t see anything from me tonight.” With this one statement, LeBron James turned a majority of the NBA community against him. Even Draymond Green, a close confidant of the Lakers star, couldn’t back him up this time, calling out the way LeBron handled the situation. While some rallied behind Dray in this one, an NFL star stepped in to offer a different perspective on why LeBron might have made that decision.

On The Pivot Podcast, host Fred Taylor made his stance clear regarding LeBron not wanting to play in the star-studded game at the final hour due to his ankle discomfort. “I think what I loved the most about Draymond and what he said was LeBron being able to come out earlier and say he wasn’t going to play to give someone else an opportunity to take that spot,” the ex-RB said.

Despite agreeing with the Warriors star, he revealed another possible theory. Taylor highlighted, “I also don’t know if LeBron was like, you know what, I’m a bit banged up, I don’t love this format, and I would be sacrificing putting my team in a better position to actually try and go out there and win after we’ve acquired Luka Doncic, versus entertaining, doing this meaningless thing around All-Star weekend.”

There’s only one answer that LeBron knows best. However, there was something Taylor underlined, “Maybe LeBron just sees this as his maybe last shot to go and get a championship, so he wants to get healthy coming out of the All-Star break.”

With the arrival of Luka Doncic to the Lakers, the team now has a renewed energy and a stronger drive for the championship title, especially LeBron. The 40-year-old is fully aware that his time on the court is limited, so he might not have felt like risking his opportunity this season that too for the All-Star Game, which many don’t prioritize.

Since his focus is on securing his fifth title right now, he may be avoiding further injury to his foot to not jeopardize the rest of his season. Moreover, Taylor pointed out that the change in the game’s format this year could have contributed to LeBron’s decision not to participate. While the 49-year-old still offered some support for LeBron James, his co-host fully backed Draymond Green.

Draymond Green gets support for calling out LeBron James

All the buzz around LeBron began after he announced in the press conference just before the game that he wouldn’t be lacing up. While his reasoning about his ankle injury was understandable, what didn’t sit well was his not making his decision earlier, which cost someone else the chance to be part of the All-Star squad. Usually, the next highest vote-receiving player would take that spot, as seen with Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who made their status clear beforehand.

Draymond pinpointed the same thing on Awful Announcing, saying, “I just know he’s been dealing with that [ankle soreness]. He took a couple of games off last week. … It’s kinda expected.” However, he added, “I think Bron coulda helped somebody else out and said this earlier.”

Ryan Clark was on the same page as Draymond. On the podcast, he gave the Giannis scenario, where Bucks forwards backed down at the right time and came to enjoy the game from the sidelines, giving Trae Young the chance. “For him to say, though, as his friend, to say LeBron was wrong for that, he should have said something earlier, and we don’t know the surroundings of it, right?” the former Steelers said. “He could have been really trying and then it was too late. But in a sense, what he did was make a moment about him that wasn’t about him, ’cause you weren’t even going to play. And so now people are talking about him announcing that right before the game. Draymond was right.”

After the incident, the spotlight did turn towards LeBron James, but unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons. He was harshly criticized and even labeled “selfish,” but he has maintained his silence. Now, that the focus is back on the regular season games, hopefully, his actions will be forgiven and forgotten. What are your thoughts on LeBron’s decision? Share your thoughts with us!