Tag: LeBron James

LeBron James was heard arguing with a referee after Lakers’ Game 2 loss

LeBron James seemed livid right after the Lakers lost Game 2 to the Nuggets on Monday.

The Los Angeles Lakers suffered one of the most heartbreaking defeats in their history on Monday in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series versus the Denver Nuggets. They built a sizable lead in the first half and extended it to 20 in the third quarter, and they seemed to be cruising on their way to tying the series.

But they got away from what worked for them, and the contest became a slow-motion train wreck for them afterward. Los Angeles gradually lost its lead, and it disappeared at the buzzer when Jamal Murray hit a jumper to hand it a 101-99 loss.

While some players, such as Anthony Davis, seemed to be willing to hold themselves accountable, other blamed external things. LeBron James blasted the league’s officiating process after the game and singled out a foul that was called against Michael Porter Jr. for hitting D’Angelo Russell in the face, only to be overturned.

A leaked audio (warning: strong language) also revealed that James went after one of the officials right after Murray hit the shot that buried the Lakers.

James complained that he was fouled when he made a layup late in the fourth quarter and that he should’ve been sent to the free throw line for a chance at a three-point play.

The 39-year-old has gotten plenty of criticism for complaining frequently to the referees over the years. While it may be a valid criticism, perhaps this time he had a justified reason to be upset.

LeBron James ripped the NBA’s officiating in a NSFW rant after stunning loss to the Nuggets

“What are we doing?”

LeBron James is fired up about the Lakers losing to the Denver Nuggets — again. After a mind-bending loss on Monday that included a Jamal Murray game-winner, James totally ripped the officiating for seemingly leading to that moment.

The Lakers were up ten points in the third quarter when Michael Porter Jr.’s foul that would have given D’Angelo Russell two free throws was overturned. That seemed to be a turning point in the game’s momentum, and the non-call even prompted Russell to tweet about it.

Things got very spicy as the Nuggets eventually chipped away at the lead and set up Murray for a stone-cold game-winning shot. James was so heated afterward that he lashed out at the officiating with some NSFW words and then walked out of a presser.

Here’s what he said:

“I don’t understand what’s going on with the replay center, to be honest…D-Lo clearly gets hit in the face on the drive. What the [expletive] do we have a replay center if it’s going to go — it doesn’t make sense to me. It makes no sense to me. It bothers me.”

Feature image via NBA TV.

LeBron James takes a shot at the officiating after the Lakers’ Game 2 loss

Lebron James wasn’t just mad the Lakers blew a 20-point lead and lost Game 2 to the Nuggets on Monday — he was also mad at the referees.

For the Los Angeles Lakers, the Denver Nuggets are that schoolyard bully who keeps beating them up and stealing their lunch money every day.

They just lost to the Nuggets for the 10th time in a row on Monday in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series, 101-99. Of those 10 losses in a row, this one was the worst. They held a 20-point lead in the third quarter, only to give up that lead in big gulps, and their fan base could see a loss coming with plenty of time left.

While Los Angeles did it to itself, LeBron James, who had a solid game overall, felt something was wrong with the officiating and that the officiating was a factor in his team’s loss. After the game, he took a shot at the refs and the replay center the NBA utilizes in New Jersey.

“I don’t understand what’s going on in the replay center, to be honest. … D’Lo (D’Angelo Russell) clearly gets hit in the face on a drive. What the [expletive] do we have a replay center? It doesn’t make sense to me. It bothers me.”

The play he was referring to took place late in the third quarter. Russell missed a layup, and after Michael Porter Jr. was called for a foul, Denver challenged the call, and the call was overturned.

Russell even took to social media to give his opinion.

Despite a couple of possibly bad or questionable calls or non-calls, the Lakers only have themselves to blame for being down 0-2 to the Nuggets. At this point, this series has taken on the feel of a slow-motion train wreck for them.

LeBron James catching up to Michael Jordan in The Athletic’s GOAT poll

Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan was voted on by players as the GOAT, but LeBron James is catching up.

The Athletic has conducted a yearly poll with anonymous NBA players for years, and one of the questions they ask is simply, “Who is the GOAT?” Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan has led the poll since the question started getting asked, but this year’s numbers continue the trend of years past: LeBron James is catching up.

“Do you think MJ’s getting nervous? King James almost took his (player poll) GOAT crown this time around, and he’ll do just that next year if this voting trend continues,” wrote Sam Amick and Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “In this endless debate, His Airness has experienced serious slippage for the third consecutive poll. Jordan had a huge edge in 2019 (73 percent to LeBron’s 11.9 percent) and was still nearly doubling him in 2023 (58.3 percent to 33 percent). Now the gap is only 3.8 percent.

“It makes some sense, though, as James is doing things at this late stage of his career that players this age have never done. And these many feats, it’s quite clear, are changing the way some players see this debate. Consider the highlights of his past 14 months…”

In the poll, Jordan earned 45.9% of the votes, but James was right behind him with 42.1% of the vote. Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Magic Johnson, and Paul Pierce also received votes.

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Skip Bayless: LeBron James pouted in fourth quarter of Game 1 vs. Nuggets

Skip Bayless is often accused of being a LeBron James hater, but he may have had a point in his latest criticism of the superstar.

There were several reasons the Los Angeles Lakers lost 114-103 to the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Saturday. D’Angelo Russell shot 6-of-20, only three Lakers players got into double-digits in shot attempts, and they got outplayed in terms of rebounding, second-chance points and fast-break points.

But one could also argue LeBron James was another reason for the loss. While he turned in 27 efficient points and eight assists, he also had seven turnovers. In addition, he went most of the fourth quarter without attempting a single shot after starting off the game so well.

Skip Bayless took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to accuse James of pouting, possibly because of the criticism that he isn’t a great crunch-time player (h/t Athlon Sports).

“LeBron James can be such a diva,” said Bayless in his postgame social media rant. “I just watched him play the last nine minutes at Denver, and take two shots once the game was completely over because he wanted to make a point.

“He pouted those last nine minutes because he was so stung by the criticism…all of it justified…for his fourth-quarter flame-outs last year in the conference finals against Denver. So, he just stood around on offense watching and kicking the ball to the coldest hand on the floor D’Angelo Russell…”

After trailing by as many as 15 points in the fourth period, L.A. was able to come to within six points with 6:15 left. Yet even with an opportunity to be able to pull out a victory, James was still passive for whatever reason.

Bayless has always been outspoken in his criticism of James, whom a growing number of people think is the greatest basketball player ever. The journalist points to James’ checkered history with big games on the line as the reason why he doesn’t think the four-time MVP is the greatest in NBA history.

“… How can anybody watch something like that and think this guy was the GOAT?” Bayless continued. “Do you think Kobe [Bryant] would have done that? Do you think [Michael] Jordan would have done that? It was just an embarrassment…It was just so LeBron James.”

James can at least somewhat enhance his argument that he’s No. 1 in the history of the sport by leading the Lakers to a victory in this series. But he needs to improve his decision-making and be more assertive offensively in at key junctures when control of a game is there for the taking.

NBA playoff predictions: Ranking the Top 16 players for the 2024 postseason

HoopsHype predicts the 16 best players for the upcoming 2024 NBA playoffs, featuring Nikola Jokic, LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

It’s here, the moment basketball fans all over the world have been waiting for: the 2024 NBA playoffs.

Today, we’re going to take a shot at predicting who the best players in the 2024 postseason will be. To do so, we weighed in how well we expect them to play, how far we expect their teams to go and how healthy we expect these players to be.

(A few superstars got docked quite a few spots for entering postseason play with a poor bill of health.)

With all those things considered, this was no easy exercise. Check out the results below.

LeBron James is focused on the here and now in Lakers-Nuggets series

LeBron James downplayed the notion that the Lakers are out for revenge in the first round of the NBA playoffs against the Nuggets.

The upcoming first-round playoff series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets is being billed as a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals, when the Lakers got swept. Overall, they have lost eight straight games to the Nuggets, and almost nobody thinks they have a real shot of overcoming the defending NBA champs.

To make matters worse, the Nuggets boasted about up-ending the Lakers after they won it all. That included their head coach, Michael Malone, who pranced around like a peacock during their championship parade.

But LeBron James downplayed the notion of this being a shot at revenge for his team. In fact, he’s acting like it’s just like any other first-round matchup.

Via ESPN:

“I think you’re putting a little bit too much emphasis on it,” James said after practice Thursday when asked about the rematch factor for the two teams. “This is our first-round matchup. I mean, we’re looking forward to the postseason. But I haven’t been, like, looking forward to the rematch. The game is played how it’s being played, and this is the matchup. So we’re looking forward to that challenge.”

“… It shouldn’t be personal at all,” James said when asked about the motivation for payback. “I think you allow yourself to get away from the game plan when you make it too personal. We have a game plan. You go out there and execute it and you live with the results. I’m kind of the last person you should [ask that] — I just stay even-keeled. I’ve been in the postseason way too long in my career to know that you don’t get too high off of Game 1 or get too high over whoever the matchup is. You got to just stay even-keeled.”

While James averaged just 24.0 points a game in three regular-season games against Denver, he has said he’s feeling relatively healthy these days. That wasn’t the case last spring, as he was working his way back from a right foot injury that had forced him to miss a month.

This series will begin on Saturday in Colorado. If L.A. somehow manages to win Game 1, they could suddenly have a real shot at getting past Nikola Jokić and crew.

Series vs. Nuggets will give LeBron James a chance to greatly enhance his legacy

The Lakers may only have a slim chance of upsetting the Nuggets, but it will give LeBron James an opportunity to add to his legacy.

For years, people have debated where LeBron James ranks among the greatest players in NBA history. For whatever reason, he has become a polarizing figure in sports, especially since he joined the Los Angeles Lakers six years ago.

His unapologetic fans swear he’s the greatest player of all time and that it isn’t even close. But his haters, of which he has many, believe he ranks rather low among the all-time greats and even think he would’ve been just another decent player had he played during the 1990s.

Objectively, the big negative in James’ legacy is his 4-6 record in the NBA Finals, as well as, to a certain extent, the two years as a Laker in which he missed the playoffs. Starting on Saturday, he will have a chance to significantly add to his legacy.

That is when the Lakers begin the playoffs against the defending world champion Denver Nuggets.

The Nuggets are huge favorites in both Game 1 and for the series as a whole, and many pundits seem to be picking them to win in four or five games.

That is where the opportunity lies for James.

The Nuggets swept L.A. in last season’s Western Conference finals, and they have won eight straight against James’ team going back to last January. On top of that, lately, they have had the look of a team that will almost inevitably win it all. No one outside of the Southland thinks the Lakers have a chance in this matchup.

But James is healthier now than he was a year ago. While key defensive stud Jarred Vanderbilt is still out with a foot injury, almost every other rotation player is healthy. Los Angeles has a greater level of chemistry and cohesion than it did at this time last year when it was still learning how to play together after a couple of big midseason trades.

James has overcome great odds to win multiple playoff series before. His Cleveland Cavaliers did so in the 2016 NBA Finals by overcoming a 3-1 series deficit against the Golden State Warriors, who had won a record 73 games in the regular season.

In the 2007 Eastern Conference finals, Cleveland fell behind 2-0 to the Detroit Pistons, only to win the next four contests as James had perhaps the first dominant stretch of his career during the playoffs.

If the Lakers somehow triumph over Nikola Jokic and crew in this series, it would give them the look of a gathering storm. James will likely have to have two or three vintage performances for that to happen, which is certainly possible, but it may still not be enough.

But if the Lakers prevail, it will be because James taps into his will and refuses to be passive or defer to his teammates at critical junctures. It would be seen as a monumental upset, and it would rank as one of the finer moments of James’ career.

In his 21st season, he will not have that many more opportunities to create indelible memories and triumphs for himself or his team.

2024 NBA play-in tournament: Our brilliant staff gives you the winner of each game in the West and East

These experts have some thoughts to share on the NBA’s play-in tournament.

The NBA’s play-in tournament began in 2021 and it has added a layer of excitement to the postseason.

Teams that otherwise would have potentially considered tanking for better draft lottery odds have instead shown a sense of competitiveness for a chance to sneak into the playoffs. The momentum that is carried by these teams matters, too. Just last season, the Miami Heat managed to go all the way from from the play-in tournament to the NBA Finals.

There are some fascinating teams and superstars (e.g. LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Zion Williamson, and several others) competing and our staff has predictions for each game before the play-in tournament begins.

Here is how we predict it will all shake out once the games tip-off:

April 16 (7:30 PM ET) on TNT. Winner plays No. 2 Nuggets.

Prince Grimes, Lakers: The Lakers aren’t going to test the basketball gods here. They’ll show up to win, and they’ve demonstrated themselves to be a tough matchup for the Pels all season.

Cole Huff, Lakers: The Pels are going to put out a much more spirited effort against the Lakers after being embarrassed by them on more than one occasion this year (I can imagine the motivational speech Willie Green is going to give his team if he hasn’t already). But it won’t matter. This is a terrible matchup for the Pels, and I don’t think in a “win and in” scenario, I’d pick such an unproven team to take down LeBron James.

Bryan Kalbrosky, Lakers: Los Angeles has played well against New Orleans this season and although Anthony Davis may have left the final game of the regular season with an injury, I’m still betting on LeBron James in a must-win game. The school of thought that the Lakers should tank this game is patently absurd.

Mike Sykes, Lakers: I’ll take the Lakers over the Pelicans for the 7 seed. Sometimes, a team just has your number. The Lakers have dominated the Pelicans when the stakes are high this season. I expect that to happen here again.

Robert Zeglinski, Pelicans: The Lakers have had the Pelicans’ number all year. Aside from a one-off on New Year’s Eve, L.A. absolutely smacked New Orleans by double digits in three of four regular-season matchups. With that said, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Lakers rested Anthony Davis — whether that’s trying to avoid the Nuggets is up to your interpretation — opening the door to a New Orleans upset built around fluky 3-point shooting.

April 16 (10:00 PM ET) on TNT. Winner plays loser of No. 7 vs. No. 8.

Prince Grimes, Warriors: The Kings are limping to the finish line and they aren’t going to make it across. Golden State couldn’t have asked for a better matchup to advance through the play-in tournament.

Cole Huff, Kings: Even with the late-season injuries, something is telling me the Kings are going to figure out how to hold onto hope for a bit longer. De’Aaron Fox has had some of his best moments against the Warriors this season and I don’t expect any of the Warrior’s older players to keep up.

Bryan Kalbrosky, Warriors: For as much of a roller-coaster ride as it has been for Golden State this season, it is still hard to play against Stephen Curry — especially in a playoff environment. The team will have some tough decisions to make this offseason, but the road isn’t ending quite yet.

Mike Sykes, Warriors: Give me the Warriors over the Kings in a closely drawn match. This one could go either way, but I think we’re in for a monster Steph Curry game to keep the Warriors playoff lives going.

Robert Zeglinski, Warriors: Two key Kings injuries take the wind out of the sails for this one for me. With Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter, I would’ve characterized Sacramento as a solid and firm West dark horse. Without them, I look forward to watching Steph Curry and friends do whatever they want to the Kings.

April 17 (7:00 PM ET) on ESPN. Winner plays No. 2 Knicks.

Prince Grimes, 76ers: If there’s one team I’m not counting out regardless of how average they appeared during the regular season, it’s the Heat. But the Sixers are simply playing too well right now for me to pick against them.

Cole Huff, Heat: Miami’s offense has been truly excruciating to watch all year long, yet my gut is telling me that Erik Spoelstra is going to hop in his bag and really remind everyone why he’s the best coach in the league. Perhaps Jimmy Butler gets serious, too.

Bryan Kalbrosky, 76ers: On one hand, we have a team that has the reigning MVP, an eight-game win streak, and the best defense in the league over the past two weeks. On the other, we have an offense that is below league average and not seeing peak performance from its stars. The former is a smarter bet than the latter.

Mike Sykes, Heat: Give me Miami in this matchup. I know the 76ers haven’t lost a game since Joel Embiid’s return. And maybe this is just me hoping for a Boston-Philly matchup a bit too much. But I just trust Jimmy Butler and Erik Spoelstra to guarantee themselves a playoff spot here.

Robert Zeglinski, 76ers: A bona fide matchup of traditional East titans, I’m gonna go with the team with the best player, and that’s Philadelphia and Joel Embiid. The 76ers won eight straight games to close the regular season with a healthy Joel Embiid pacing his team. I have utmost respect for Erik Spoelstra’s tough-as-nails Heat, but they’re up against the wall here.

April 17 (9:30 PM ET) on ESPN. Winner plays loser of No. 7 vs. No. 8.

Prince Grimes, Hawks: I’m picking Atlanta just because that’s the team I want to see win, though they haven’t given me much reason to believe they can win. Six straight losses to close the season doesn’t inspire much confidence.

Cole Huff, Bulls: Atlanta doesn’t believe in defense and I find that to be quite problematic in a single-game elimination scenario.

Bryan Kalbrosky, Hawks: It isn’t easy to come back from injury and surgery then make an immediate impact, but the joy of watching Trae Young put on a show is simply too much fun to resist here.

Mike Sykes, Bulls: I’ll take the Bulls here, mostly because they’re just a more cohesive team at this point. Atlanta is getting Trae Young back and that’ll certainly help, but Atlanta has an identity problem it needs to figure out. That won’t happen here.

Robert Zeglinski, Bulls: Does this really matter? I guess I’ll go with DeMar DeRozan and the Bulls’ bizarre dominance of fourth quarters and clutch time. Anyway, but really — does this matter?

April 19 (TBD) on TNT. Winner plays No. 1 Thunder.

Prince Grimes, Pelicans (vs. Warriors): This is going to be an interesting game between two incredibly efficient 3-point shooting teams. But backs against the wall, this is when I expect Golden State’s championship meddle to show. Steph Curry and the Warriors advance.

Cole Huff, Pelicans (vs. Kings):  The Kings ultimately run out of gas here and go into the offseason, needing to reassess and potentially make some big moves. Meanwhile, Zion Williamson bounces back to feast on a non-Lakers opponent and gets his Pelicans into the first round for what should be an entertaining matchup with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the OKC Thunder.

Bryan Kalbrosky, Pelicans (vs. Kings): This is a tough call but I’ll take the team with more depth and that is facing fewer injuries right now, which means I’m going with New Orleans. At full strength, maybe Sacramento would have a better chance here but luck simply isn’t on their side right now.

Mike Sykes, Pelicans (vs. Warriors): Give me New Orleans over Golden State for the 8 seed. I think this could be another tight one, but the Pelicans are a better team. There’s not a matchup problem with the Warriors here like they have with the Lakers. I think the talent on that roster is enough to get it done.

Robert Zeglinski, Warriors (vs. Lakers): This is not the Warriors’ golden era. Far from it. At this point, it’s about staying competitive relative to Steph Curry’s all-time greatness. But even with Golden State’s fall from grace, I’d be hard-pressed to say I trust the Lakers much more. If anything, I don’t think anyone in the purple and gold can stay with the Dubs’ offense for four quarters. At the very least, we should get another fun LeBron James-Curry battle.

April 19 (TBD) on ESPN. Winner plays No. 1 Celtics.

Prince Grimes, Heat (vs Hawks): If I struggled to pick the Hawks over the Bulls, you know I’m not picking them over Miami. Elimination games tend to bring out the best in Jimmy Butler and the Heat.

Cole Huff, 76ers (vs. Bulls): The Bulls bow out in the final Play-In game for a consecutive season as Joel Embiid delivers a masterpiece and provides the City of Brotherly Love the false sense of confidence that the Sixers will give Boston a tough series.

Bryan Kalbrosky, Heat (vs. Bulls): As impressed as I’ve been by Coby White’s improvements this season, it’s still hard to imagine a scenario where the Heat entirely miss out on the playoffs so long as Erik Spoelstra is coaching this team.

Mike Sykes, 76ers (vs. Bulls): Give me Philly over Chicago for the 8 seed in the East. To put it plainly, Chicago has nothing for Joel Embiid. Absolutely nothing.

Robert Zeglinski, Heat (vs. Hawks): The Heat are weaker than last year. They’re more banged up, they’re less cohesive, they (still) struggle to score and it’s highly unlikely they replicate a Cinderella run to the Finals for the ages. But folks, Miami is made for this time of year. When the Heat’s backs are against the wall, when it’s win or go home, they are a juggernaut.

LeBron James, Anthony Davis are officially on Team USA roster for 2024 Olympics

The Lakers’ two superstars will be heading to Paris in an attempt to win back the gold medal for the United States in the 2024 Olympics.

The next few months will be very eventful for the Los Angeles Lakers. They will begin the play-in tournament on Tuesday with a road game against the New Orleans Pelicans, and a win would make them the seventh seed in the Western Conference. That would mean a first-round playoff date against the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets.

A loss on Tuesday would send the Lakers to their second and final play-in game. That contest would take place on Friday at Crypto.com Arena versus either the Golden State Warriors or Sacramento Kings with the eighth seed at stake.

This summer, LeBron James has a big decision to make. Will he opt out of the player option on his contract for next season, and if he does, will he leave the Lakers or stick around with them?

James will also be busy later this summer, as he and fellow Lakers superstar Anthony Davis have been named to Team USA’s roster for the Olympics in Paris.

Team USA failed to win a medal at last summer’s FIBA World Cup, prompting a number of NBA superstars to say they wanted to play in this summer’s Olympics in order to win back the gold for the United States.

As a result, fatigue will be a significant concern for both James and Davis heading into next season. Then again, Austin Reaves played in the FIBA World Cup last year and did just fine this season — he even played in all 82 games while upping his points and assists averages.