Time keeps proving Skip Bayless wrong but the sports analyst doesn’t appear to learn. He’s always attacking players without any apparent reason and making bold claims against them just to change his stance once he’s exposed. The most famous case of all is LeBron James, who has never acknowledged Bayless but keeps proving him wrong every single season.
One of the boldest mistakes Bayless made was comparing Joel Embiid with LeBron, claiming the Philadelphia 76ers was the best player in the world when healthy. That is a direct shot at Bron, especially knowing that he added that Bron wasn’t even a top 10 player in the league before this season started. Discussing the Sports Illustrated’s 100 best NBA players list, Bayless made the statement about Bron not belonging to the top 10 (2:02 minute mark).
“The only way your man (James) is number three is on reputation and projection,” Bayless said to co-host Shannon Sharpe. “And I’ll give you the reputation, but I will not give you the projection because I saw what I saw last year. I saw an aging superstar. I saw 28 and 27 in the games he started for the Los Angeles Lakers. I saw a blooper reel of lowlights.”
“You know, he���s not a top 10 player right now,” Bayless said amid protests from Sharpe. “You know, Russell Westbrook was 12th on this list. I’ll give LeBron 11. Jimmy Butler was 11. I’ll give LeBron 11 to Russell’s 12. He’s one rung ahead of Russell Westbrook.”
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Skip already had his candidate to take that No. 1 spot in the NBA, Joel Embiid. The Philadelphia 76ers big man has the talent and the condition to be great in the league, but he doesn’t take that final step to be part of the true elite of the league. Bayless made the case for JoJo, stating he’d become the best player on earth when he got on the best condition.
“Joel Embiid is still the best player in the world when he’s healthy,” Bayless said in September of 2019.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEahHBZFEnN
A couple of months ago he’d say something similar, but this time urging Embiid to get it together if he wanted to become the best baller on earth.
“When Embiid decides to play, he is the best player on this planet. He can dominate both ends the way nobody can because he’s the guy who is 7-feet-tall and can make 3’s.”
https://twitter.com/undisputed/status/1210246932628684800
Almost a year later after those remarks, LeBron James is leading the Lakers to a championship while Embiid got swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics. If the Sixers had a chance to compete against the C’s, that was because of Embiid. The team was bad this season and they have things to figure out. The player wanted to win but this just wasn’t the year.
LeBron remains the best player in the world and Embiid is one of the best, but he hasn’t reached Bron yet.
