LeBron James pulled off a magical night in Las Vegas as the Los Angeles Lakers qualified for the final of the In-season tournament. In the semi-final clash against the New Orleans Pelicans, the 38-year-old went 30-5-8 in just 23 minutes establishing a one-sided dominance. The 17x NBA winning franchise thus moved closer to another glory with a 133-89 win as James received the opportunity to win the competition’s debut edition.
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Soon after the final buzzer, the interesting dynamic caught the attention of the basketball lovers. As always it resulted in a divide amongst the fans as it yet again sparked the conversations surrounding the greatest of all time, aka The GOAT. Henceforth, Michael Jordan entered the frame as the NBA world took things in a different direction altogether.
The temperature went up a notch when Shannon Sharpe posted on his Instagram using Jordan’s infamous crying face meme to back LeBron. The sports analyst intentionally mocked the 6x NBA champion while congratulating James’ franchise publicly on Instagram. Replacing the basketball and Lakers star’s face with Micahel’s exaggerated crying face and his own face respectively, the 55-year-old wrote, “Congrats to GOAT JAMES & the Lakers on advancing to the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament Championship!”.
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The instance proved Shannon’s admiration for the 4x champion as he continued to defend him after all these years. During his time with the UNDISPUTED, he had to constantly back James while his former colleague, Skip Bayless, wanted to bring the 19x All-Star down. Three months back also Sharpe had engaged in The GOAT debate with his First Take colleague, Stephen A. Smith where he did the same.
So, his actions this time around spurred from a similar motive as he had wished to glorify one of his closest friends in the sports world. His endeavors have made the final a lot more exciting to look forward to as Shannon willingly put his name on the line for LeBron.
Shannon Sharpe adds a sense of fulfillment to the achievement of LeBron James
Fighting against the odds, the Lakers made the headlines with their qualification to the final. Despite being vocal about the intention of getting his hands on the $500,000 prize money, James’ competitive nature fueled his performance against the Pelicans. After all, he was the only player on the court to score more than 20 points and touch the mark of 30 in the process.
Even after the impressive run, Skip Bayless remained far from impressed as he publicly mocked the 4x MVP. To put Jordan on a pedestal, he glorified the 60-year-old’s achievements from his playing days. Bayless attempted to play down the milestones set by LeBron as he openly showcased his dislikeness for the small forward.
Thus, Sharpe’s post could well be a direct response to his former colleague in his way. He has defended James in panel shows time and again, claiming, “He the GOAT”. So, it is time for LeBron to pay back one of his close ones for his years of loyalty by winning the tournament on Sunday.
