LeBron James has been heavily criticized after the Los Angeles Lakers failed to make it to the 2022 NBA postseason despite having a team that looked like clear championship favorites before the start of the season.
Following the Los Angeles Lakers’ elimination from play-in contention, many people went off on LeBron, as he was blamed for putting together the team that underperformed all season long. While others said that there were more reasons behind the Lakers’ failure, most fans have aimed their criticism at the King.
Many folks have used this situation to remove LeBron from the GOAT debate and uplift Michael Jordan. Stephen A. Smith claimed that there’s nothing more to say about it, as James mightily failed to even make it to the playoffs.
Moreover, Matt Barnes was very critical of the 4x NBA champion’s leadership, comparing him to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. During a recent edition of NBA Today, the former NBA champion stated that Kobe and Jordan would have handled this situation differently. He even said that MJ would have thrown hands if he had this fate.
“You look at someone like a Kobe Bryant. When I’ve seen him personally get in people’s faces and just cuss them out until they’re damn near in tears, and they’re grown men,” Barnes said. “Michael Jordan probably would have been fighting his teammates if he had to see some of the stuff that these guys do.”
LeBron’s individual season was one for the ages, but that didn’t translate into wins, and that’s exactly what gives you a higher seed in the standings and what takes you to the postseason. The Lakers have a lot of work to do and LeBron needs to reflect on this season if they don’t want to repeat the same mistakes next season.
