“LeBron James is planting excuses for himself”: Skip Bayless scoffs at the notion that the Lakers MVP is playing on one leg ahead of matchup against Chris Paul and the Suns

Skip Bayless believes LeBron James is planting excuses for himself when dealing with his ankle injury ahead of the Suns Playoff matchup. 

Despite being synonymous with perfect physical health and being perhaps the most durable superstar in the history of the NBA, LeBron James has had a few unfortunate run-ins with the injury bug this 2020-21 season. He seemed to have twisted his right ankle in the season opener against the Clippers and would go on to re-injure that same ankle mid-March in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. 

It is this injury that sidelined him for a month and a half and effectively put an end to his MVP candidacy and also allowed the Lakers to slip down the standings. His return from injury against the Pelicans on the last day of the season resulted in yet another mishap concerning his right ankle during garbage time as the Lakers up by double digits.

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James seemed relatively healthy in the play in game against Steph Curry and the Warriors but following the narrow victory, Marc Spears reported that the reigning Finals MVP was “playing on one leg.” 

Skip Bayless says LeBron James and his camp are stirring up rumors that he’s seriously injured. 

Molly Qerim of ESPN’s First Take said a couple days ago that she believes LeBron James was falsely crowing Steph Curry with the MVP this season just so he could say that he beat the MVP in the play in tournament. Skip Bayless is channeling a similar type of energy and says that he isn’t buying James’s “playing on one leg” story.

Rich Paul and Maverick Carter are genius at what they do for LeBron James. They’re gifted at planting excuses for him and here they go again. Now LeBron is “playing on one leg.” It’s a beautiful move ahead of the playoffs. More @Undisputed, now on FS1
pic.twitter.com/os1Zm1f9qF

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 21, 2021

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The severity of LeBron James’s ankle injury is still relatively unknown to the public as the entirety of the Lakers medical staff haven’t been too technical with their reports. It’s very much possible that the 36-year-old is finally allowing father time to catch up to him in terms of longevity. It’s isn’t easy to average 25+ points per game for 17 straight seasons in the most talented league in the world. 

To play devil’s advocate here, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that this is just another one of the ‘King’s’ publicity stunts to help hype up his newest championship run. If the Lakers were to demolish each team at every round, all while the narrative was centered around LeBron’s ‘bum’ ankle, the ‘GOAT’ debate would essentially be over.