It isn’t often that you can point to LeBron James being one of the biggest reasons why his team lost, but it certainly was the case against the Utah Jazz. The King looked far from his usual self as he struggled to make a positive impact on the game, and the Lakers ended up losing 130-116.
His stat line on the surface seems good enough, as he had 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists, but he shot just 7-19 from the field and went 0-5 from beyond the arc. He is now 0-12 from three in the last 2 games, and he just does not look right at the moment.
Darvin Ham States That LeBron James Has Been Dealing With A Stomach Virus
LeBron revealed a few days back that he had been dealing with an illness that had left him bedridden for a while. It would explain why he has struggled so much recently, but it has been a few days since it happened, and he still looks off. After the game, head coach Darvin Ham was asked whether LeBron’s illness affected him here as well.
(starts at 2:37 mark):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBLGAnf2KdI
“Yeah I mean when you’re not able to function properly physically, be it a stomach virus or what have you and I don’t know specifically, but I believe that’s what it was and it’s something that has been going around.”
It seems like a bizarre decision to play LeBron for 34 minutes if he has been dealing with something like this. As Ham went on to say, if you go out there on the court you better be ready to compete and LeBron just didn’t seem to have it.
Maybe we’ll see him return to his best once a few more days have passed, but fans are concerned for the King. They are worried he might finally be in decline in his 20th season in the NBA, and we’ll find out soon enough if that is the case. Another worry for the Lakers to come out of this game was how poor their defense was. It was what ultimately cost them the game, and Ham needs to make sure that this doesn’t become the norm going forward.
