via Imago
Nov 21, 2021; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) reacts after getting ejected from the game during the third quarter against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
via Imago
Nov 21, 2021; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) reacts after getting ejected from the game during the third quarter against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
LeBron James in Cleveland, a young menace; in Miami, unstoppable; back in Cleveland, ruthless and history maker; in Los Angeles, past his prime.
In his career, he has won it all. Six back-to-back final appearances, two back-to-back championships, four championships in total, and countless individual achievements along with multiple records broken. Not a bad career, is it? But at 37, even LeBron can not keep producing performances like he used to in his absolute prime.
LA Lakers lost to LA Clippers for the 6th time in a span of over a year. Clippers have run over Lakers yet again without reply, although this time only by a margin of 3 points.
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James suffers blames
Following the defeat against the Clippers, Lakers fans have been fuming. They are infuriated by the repeated disappointing performances from their team. They are still 9th seed and it is even more difficult to qualify for the playoffs. The Lakers fans took it to Twitter as James slowed the game down in the last 10 seconds of playing time.?
LeBron effectively ending the game by going so slow here. Either you score and need a stop or you miss and get a shot at tying down three. This was the worst option. Weird game from him. pic.twitter.com/U0ogKuvpSE
— Anthony F. Irwin (@AnthonyIrwinLA) February 26, 2022
The fans did not rest and did not cut James or the team any slack either.
He knows he’s not getting another title with lakers deep down ! He’s defeated
— Octavian.Augustus (@corvusglaive19) February 26, 2022
And trusting his descion making is better than nothing as he doesn’t have the legs to blow by guys anymore he looked visably tired throughout the game
— 🎈 (@JoeyDW23) February 26, 2022
the last game that they left time for them hugely impact their decision to kill as much as possible. Melo could pass to Russ. the angle behind the court clearly shows Russ was empty
— Vahid (@Vahid_Riahi_) February 26, 2022
LeBron was not it all game. Looked gassed early, which makes it even weirder Vogel didn’t sub in shooters down 3.
— Keenan Mumma (@hoosiermumma) February 26, 2022
Weird = Bad. He had as many turnovers as made field goal attempts (6).
— Sean Harter (@SeanHarterEsq) February 26, 2022
https://twitter.com/gapfr0/status/1497458925842563075?s=20&t=2hIigZTHOBnqOoXDsmodQw
Lebron has played his ass off this entire season. Its okay for him to have a bad game. It's a team sport, these other dudes get paid as well.
Lebron effectively had 3 ppl on him and makes the right pass. Melo has to make the correct decision. He didnt. That's the game.
— Mandem (@ishbrazyy) February 26, 2022
Is LeBron James the problem?
One point down and he set up Carmelo Anthony for a 3. This did work before in the game where a similar move resulted in a Melo 3-pointer, but it did not towards the end. King James had the last shot for a 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left and missed it in the dying seconds from the corner, unable to score a buzzer-beater, resulting in another disappointing result for the Lakers. This practically meant ?James was defeated?.
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King James had the most points for Lakers (21) and nobody from either side had more than him. But he still looked tired almost throughout the game. He still grabs points because, of course, he is LeBron, but his overall game has slowed down and this can be thought of as one of the many reasons the LA Lakers are struggling right now.?
USA Today via Reuters
Feb 12, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) stands on the court after a play against the Golden State Warriors in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
READ MORE: Is this the solution for the LeBron-Lakers situation?
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There have been multiple instances when the King has come in clutch for whichever side he has played for. For the Lakers as well, it would be fair to say that James had the most say in the 2018 championship-winning campaign. Now maybe the Lakers need some freshness in their squad. This might not mean that they don’t need James, as you can never write off a player like him. But they are in need of ideas and that too quickly.
What happens with LeBron and Lakers is yet to be found out.?
