Lakers' LeBron James Slams Entire Team For Breaking Down Against Bulls

Los Angeles is now 44-29 on the season, still good for the No. 4 overall seed in the Western Conference.

During postgame comments made at his locker (as captured by Spectrum SportsNet), James pulled no punches in his appraisal of his team's uncomfortably bad fourth quarter performance on the road.

“I mean, we put ourselves in position to win," James said. "Gave up a lot of 3s in the fourth quarter, but still put ourselves in a position to win."

James singled out only one player for individual blame in the defeat: LeBron James, specifically for turning over his inbounds pass intended for Austin Reaves. The dish was picked off by Bulls guard Josh Giddey, who quickly passed it out to backcourt mate Coby White for a nothing-but-net trey.

"Horrible turnover by myself," James said. "Bad miscommunication the play before that, but AR [Austin Reaves] still hit a big bucket trying to save us and then you tip you hat when someone makes a game-winner from half-court.”

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“We can’t give up 40-plus [in a single quarter]," James said. "We gave up 32 in the first quarter and then we played great ball from there on, 26 in the second, 17 in the third. You give up 44 (in the fourth), it doesn’t matter how many points you’re up. It’s just not ingredients for success.”

The 21-time All-Star hasn't looked like himself since returning to the court from a seven-game absence (he had a groin strain). James is averaging a middling 17.8 points on .424/.077/.737 shooting splits in the four games he's played.

James, at 40, is performing at an elite level never before seen of a player at his age or with his mileage (he's in the midst of his record-tying 22nd season, with 10 NBA Finals berths to his credit amidst a decorate playoff resume).

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The four-time league MVP's former Miami Heat Hall of Fame running mate, 13-time All-Star shooting guard Dwyane Wade, was in the same storied 2003 NBA Draft class. Wade has been retired since 2019. Since then, James has won another title, appeared in two Western Conference Finals, and made the playoffs in four of his five completed seasons.

Speaking with NBA insider Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson about James' longevity, Wade noted that the player often compared with him, former Chicago Bulls superstar swingman Michael Jordan, was at a different phase of his career in his age-40 season, which he spent with a lottery-destined Washington Wizards club.

“I mean, MJ averaged 20 when he came back, and he was STILL very good, but LeBron has stayed at a level that we haven’t seen,” Wade said. “The conversations of greatness—he makes it hard. All the older guys before were like, ‘It’s about Wilt, it’s about Kareem, it’s about these guys,’ but because of his consistency… I mean, he’s averaging 30 points per game in his 20th year in the league!”

To wit, the 6-foot-9 superstar is averaging 24.5 points on a .512/.373/.768 slash line, 8.5 assists, and 8.2 rebounds in his 62 healthy games with Los Angeles thus far.

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