LeBron James and his Lakers have been enduring a painful season so far. With just 29 wins, they sit 9th in the West. Moreover, it is unlikely that they will enter the playoffs without taking part in the play-in tournament. Such an outcome for the Lakers was highly unexpected. This is true, especially since they assembled their big three of LeBron, AD, and Westbrook.
Moreover, since AD’s injury, LeBron has been the point of focus for the Lakers. Although he had two 50 point games, the Lakers have lost more games than they have won. To make matters worse, they dropped a game against the Houston Rockets – a matchup they were expected to dominate. In light of the unexpected loss, Skip Bayless had a piece of advice for LeBron asking him to be confident like Michael Jordan in order to close games.
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Skip Bayless on LeBron James
Following the loss to the Rockets, Skip Bayless had a piece of advice for LeBron during an episode of ‘Skip and Shannon: UNDISPUTED’. Bayless began by pointing out LeBron’s ‘inability to trust himself’ at the charity stripe towards the end of close games. He then advised the ‘King’ to be more like Jordan.
“You have to have the killer will. You have to have the supreme Jordanesque confidence to say ‘I don’t care who you are,'” said Bayless.
“LeBron James, All-Time great as he is, he has to get in his head. ‘I’m going to close this game. It’s me!'” added Bayless.
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Thereafter, Skip mentioned that LeBron could have even helped the Lakers seal the game had he driven to the basket instead of a driving floating jump shot. This would have brought the ‘King’ the opportunity to make at least 1 free throw. So clearly, Bayless believes that LeBron has got to back himself and play with confidence like MJ. That will in turn prevent the Lakers from dropping games.
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However, LeBron did bounce back. In the Lakers’ very next game, they trounced the Wizards. Moreover, LeBron had his second 50 piece of the season. Additionally, he was perfect from the free-throw line shooting 8 of 8. So it is quite evident that LeBron has the ability to bounce back from poor games. As long as he is consistent with his high level of performance, the Lakers have a chance to win every matchup.