Skip Bayless Questions LeBron James Announcement from the Lakers

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Owen Crisafulli | Last updated Dec 5, 2024 6:49 PM ET

The Los Angeles Lakers have been struggling as of late, and they reached a new low when they suffered a 41-point loss at the hands of the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. Making matters even worse, LeBron James popped up on the team's injury report on Thursday, which led to a big reaction from Skip Bayless.

Despite Los Angeles getting blown out of the water by Miami, James played 29 minutes in the game, including a three-and-a-half minute stretch in the fourth quarter when the team trailed by over 30 points. LeBron's minutes have become a pretty pertinent topic of discussion, especially as he endures a brutal cold stretch.

Bayless, who may just be James' biggest hater, quickly took note of the superstar's appearance on the team's injury report, and he ended up going ballistic. Bayless questioned why LeBron was playing in the fourth quarter of their contest against the Heat if he's dealing with a cranky foot.

"Wait, LeBron is questionable for tomorrow night's game at Atlanta with a sore foot??? He chose to play the first 3 1/2 minutes of last night's 4th quarter with the Lakers down 33 to start the 4th and down 36 when he finally took himself out with 8:44 left. Huh???" Bayless said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Wait, LeBron is questionable for tomorrow night's game at Atlanta with a sore foot??? He chose to play the first 3 1/2 minutes of last night's 4th quarter with the Lakers down 33 to start the 4th and down 36 when he finally took himself out with 8:44 left. Huh???
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) December 5, 2024

James has set a goal for himself to play in all 82 games this season for the Lakers, despite the fact he will turn 40 years old later this month. And while he's played in all 22 games for LA so far, it's been tough to ignore his struggles as of late, as he's averaging just 18.6 points per game over his past seven outings.

With his foot already bothering him, and the Lakers being clear in their desire to have James ready to go for a potential postseason run, they may want to change their stance on having him play in all 82 games. Regardless, their management of him to this point has been confusing, and Bayless is not letting them off the hook.

Los Angeles is set to take on the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, Dec. 6th, at 7:30 p.m., and whether or not James will be on the court for them is still very much up in the air.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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