LeBron James Criticizes People Saying He Has ‘No Bag’

Even though Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, he has also received criticism for the style in which he plays. Naturally, James uses brute force as he is one of the most physically gifted players of all-time.

Many people feel James does not have the offensive skill of a lot of other Hall of Fame level players, although there is no denying the 40-year-old worked extremely hard in the back half of his career to develop other parts of his game.

In the latest episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash and Luka Doncic, LeBron talked about people saying he and others don’t have a back and why that isn’t as important as people make it out to be:

“When I was growing up, it wasn’t talked about. The least amount of dribbles to get to where you need to get to was what I grew up watching. Michael Jordan wasn’t dribbling 1,000 times to get to his spot and raise. Isiah Thomas, as great of a handle as Isiah Thomas had, Isiah would get to his spot and raise. All these guys that I grew up watching, Grant Hill can get to his spot and bury you. [Glenn] Robinson, I get to my spot and I’m burying you. Allan Houston, all these great players that I grew up watching and admiring, Penny Hardaway. They could dribble the basketball, yes. Tracy McGrady, even as great as Tracy was, it was I’m bigger than you, I’m gonna get to the spot in the least amount of dribbles. Kevin Garnett, just good footwork and getting over the top, if I’m bigger than you and I get you on my shoulder or get you on my hip, I’m gonna use my size. I see it all the time, I be on social media and it’s like ‘LeBron has no bag.’ LeBron has no bag and I’m sitting over there with 50 billion points… Just play the game the right way. And I hope that our younger generation doesn’t get swamped by saying OK, I need a bag, I need a bag. Work on your game, know what you’re gonna be good at in order to help the team and prove the next year to be a better player. You come in as a guy that’s offensive game is not deveoped, you come in and you defend, you get extra possessions, you get extra rebounders for the guys. OK, then next year you work on your game in the offseason. It’s only one or two, three guys maximum that’s gonna be handling the f—ing hold anyways. We don’t need you to have a bag. We have the luxury of having three guys with us two and AR, but not many teams have three guys that’s gonna be handling the ball like that anyways. You can make $200 million in the NBA if you defend and shoot a corner 3-pointer.”

There’s no denying that James has found a way to be successful no matter what people perceive as his “bag.” He has all of the accolades to back that up, including an ongoing scoring record that may never be broken.

LeBron James discusses importance of communication & listening

On the other end of the floor, LeBron James has been a key defensive piece for every team he has played for due to his ability to communicate with his teammates. On top of communication though, the Lakers star also recently expressed the important of listening.