The Los Angeles Lakers couldn’t keep their foot on the gas in their latest matchup with the reigning NBA champions.
JJ Redick’s team led by as many as eight points and trailed by a single bucket until the Oklahoma City Thunder closed out on a strong run on both ends of the floor.
That, according to LeBron James, is the difference between a championship-caliber team and the Lakers.
That’s why, when asked about the loss, the four-time NBA champion pretty much admitted that the Lakers weren’t an actual contender.
LeBron James delivers brutally honest reality check
“You want me to compare us to them? That’s a championship team right there. We’re not. We can’t sustain energy and effort for 48 minutes and they can. That’s why they won a championship,” James said after the game, per Underdog.
This isn’t the first time James or someone close to him has echoed a similar sentiment about this team.
His agent, Rich Paul, actually went on the record to say that the Lakers weren’t a championship-caliber team, and even went as far as to suggest they should trade Austin Reaves.
James denied having anything to do with Paul’s statements at the time. It was hard to believe that at the time, and these words raise even more questions about his future with the team.
It doesn’t sound like James is fully engaged and locked in with the team. And while calling out your teammates is also part of being a leader, it’s impossible to get anyone else to buy in when one of the faces of the franchise throws in the towel in public.
