LeBron James and some of his Los Angeles Lakers teammates could not be bothered to stay until the end of their loss on Sunday night to the Miami Heat.
The Lakers were beaten by Miami 115-104 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The Heat were dribbling out the clock to end the game. With just under 10 seconds left, James just walked off the floor and made his way toward the tunnel. Some other Lakers players who were on the floor at the time followed his lead.
The shot clock expired with 0.7 seconds left and the Lakers needed to put three substitutes into the game because James, Rajon Rondo and Kyle Kuzma had already left the court.
That was an unsportsmanlike move from the Lakers. True sportsmen stay until the end and give the respect to their opponent of acknowledging defeat.
Of course they are upset about losing, but that’s part of the game. If you don’t want to lose because it’s painful, then play better next time.
This sort of behavior actually is not new for some of the players on the Lakers.
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