LeBron James is widely hailed around the association for being an exceptional leader both on and off the court. Over his 18-years in the league, Bron has always been the one to lead his teammates and set the tone for his club on both ends of the floor.
With the Lakers, that’s no different. As the team’s best player, and their most accomplished, he knows what it takes to win a title more than anyone else on the team.
Still, it doesn’t mean that James doesn’t slip up from time to time.
Recently, LeBron went viral for a video that caught him checking the stat sheet in the middle of a loss. Russell Westbrook was hovering in the background, seemingly eyeing James as he poured over the numbers.
At the time, it made for a funny and entertaining moment that many fans enjoyed.
But, according to Kwame Brown, it was a show of character by Bron, who (according to Brown) sent the wrong message by looking at the stats like that.
“When I saw brother LeBron watching the stat sheet, that told me all I needed to know about why the Lakers losing. That told me all I needed to know about why that team is not connected on defense. I played since little league, since High School, and all the High School coaches around the world can attest to this: they would never allow a player to watch a stat sheet on the bench. Especially while they’re losing. What is that stat sheet teaching you? It’s not teaching you anything. We lost a game, I wouldn’t let nobody on our bus touch a stat sheet. We lost, what the f*ck are we looking at the stats for?
So for LeBron to be looking at the stat sheet on the bench, that was the wrong message to send. That was horrible and none of you players should ever emulate that… Kobe Bryant would have never done that.”
Bron did not give any reasoning behind his glance at the sheet, but it’s fair to say he wanted to check on the performance of himself or his teammates.
Whatever the reason, it clearly rubbed some folk the wrong way. In basketball, and the NBA especially, the only number that should count is the number of wins. For the Lakers, that number is nowhere near where it should be.
Needless to say, the Lakers have a lot of work ahead of them, and it’ll be up to James to lead them through the second half of the season.
