LA Lakers key forward LeBron James recently blamed the NBA’s rigorous scheduling for the loss against the city rivals, LA Clippers.
Los Angeles Lakers lost a crucial game to city rivals Los Angeles Clippers led by controversial former Lakers, Russell Westbrook. It was a back-to-back matchup, and the Lakers were coming off a thrilling win over the Utah Jazz from the other night. However, the Clippers proved to be too good for the 17-time Champions as the latter went down 125-118.
While the standing in the West table stayed unaffected, the loss has undoubtedly hit the Lakers’ playoff qualification odds. They have just two games on hand from here on and can now finish in the play-ins at best. However, despite having their core group on the court, how did the Lakers fail so badly? When LeBron James was asked the same, he shifted the blame to NBA, which irked these Fox Sports Radio hosts.
LeBron James Blames NBA For Loss To Clippers, Radio Hosts Urges Him To Stop Whining
Los Angeles Lakers star veteran, LeBron James, rushed his recovery to compete for the team in the final few games of the season. After a steady start, he brought his A game against the Clippers and scored 33 points, 7 assists, and 8 rebounds. However, the team failed to come as a whole collectively and lost a highly crucial game, which has now hindered their playoff dream. Moreover, James had a different take on the whole game. He said it was one of the toughest games of the season, and it was scheduled at the wrong time. The fatigue caused by back-to-back got the better of the team.
Meanwhile, LeBron James’ statement and lack of accountability have not gone down well with the Fox Sports Radio Hosts Dan Beyer & Rich Ohrnberger. They called out James for whining about back-to-back games, a practice NBA has followed for many years. Rich said that if LeBron cannot handle back-to-back games, that clearly means he is getting too old and unable to handle the pressure. Further, Dan said the veteran wouldn’t have complained had they won the game. Hence, he should accept the loss and take some responsibility. Lastly, the duo signed off, saying that if the Lakers wanted to rest, they should have won the crucial games earlier and taken some time off in the last few matchups.
Lakers Head Coach Backs LeBron’s Statement
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers head coach, Darvin Ham, has completely backed the veteran’s statement. He agreed with LeBron James and said the NBA’s rigorous schedule is for real. Moreover, Ham added that every team suffers from these back-to-back games at some point in every season. It’s just that for them, it has come at the wrong time, with playoff qualification at stake.
However, it’s not the end of the road for the Lakers just yet. They need to go 2-0 in the final two games of the regular season. Further, the Lakers also would require the Golden State Warriors to go 1-1. Hence, if all odds fall in place, the purple and gold can certainly finish in the top six.