LeBron James seemed to be going through it after a historically bad loss on Monday night to the Philadelphia 76ers.
James and the Los Angeles Lakers got Hulk-smashed by the 76ers in Philly, losing by a slapstick final score of 138-94. The 44-point defeat was the worst of James’ entire 21-year NBA career and knocked the Lakers down to 10-8 on the season.
After the game, a visibly frustrated James made a curious comment when asked about how the team would react to such a humiliating loss. James didn’t seem at all interested in speaking for his teammates, though, and decided to fend only for himself.
“I don’t know how the team [reacts],” said James. “I can only speak for myself. I don’t like it.”
That is a pretty strange comment coming from the leader of your team. While James had every right to be ticked off after that kind of defeat, you never want to come across like you are throwing teammates under the bus when the going gets tough, especially when you are the oldest active player in the NBA like James now is.
The Lakers are admittedly battling some injuries to key players right now like Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent and Cam Reddish (all of whom are capable of starting). But for James, who finished with an uncharacteristic 18-point, zero-rebound, five-assist line on Monday, this is far from the first time that he has been accused of poor leadership during his Lakers tenure.
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