LeBron James put up arguably his best performance of the 2023-2024 season during the Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors battle. The King recorded an impressive 36-point, 20-rebound, and 12-assist triple-double while leading the Purple & Gold to a 145-144 double OT win. James had several highlight plays throughout the contest. However, it was his clutch free throws in the dying seconds of the contest that received praise from Skip Bayless.
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Stephen Curry rose to the occasion and knocked down a wide-open three-pointer with less than five seconds remaining in the double overtime to put the Warriors ahead by 1. With the Lakers trailing, Darvin Ham used his timeout and advanced the ball to the frontcourt.
As expected, LeBron James received the ball at the top of the key. The 6ft 9” forward managed to get past the smaller Brandin Podziemski and drove to the basket. Ultimately, he was fouled by Draymond Green, resulting in LBJ receiving two free throws.
The four-time MVP isn’t the greatest free throw shooter, averaging 73.5% throughout his career. However, Bron ended up hitting both shots. Having no timeouts remaining, Steve Kerr’s boys were unable to advance the ball, which caused them to fail to even get a shot off.
Despite being known for constantly criticizing the superstar, Skip Bayless seemed excited while praising the clutch free throws. As soon as the contest ended, the UNDISPUTED analyst lauded the four-time champ, on X (formerly “Twitter”) for having the “guts” to drive to the hoop and be awarded with a pair of free throws.
Skip has earned his bread and butter by being one of LeBron’s biggest detractors. Hence, it seems unclear whether or not the 72-year-old is being genuine with his praise or sarcastic. However, given how he has been on James’s positive side more often than not, perhaps it is a good idea to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.
LeBron James has previously received comments from Skip Bayless for his free throws
This is not the first time that Skip Bayless has commented on LeBron James’ free throws. Over the past few years, Bayless’ tweets regarding James’ performance from the charity stripe have increased.
Earlier this season, during the Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets clash, LBJ hit a clutch free throw to seal the win. Instead of praising the game-winning performance, Bayless decided to criticize James for the poor results from the charity stripe across his career.
Back in the 2021-2022 season, LeBron James missed crucial free throws during the dying minutes of the Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors bout. The missed shots resulted in Stephen Curry and co. clinching a 117-115 win. Unsurprisingly, Bayless had a field day as he ripped apart James on X (formerly “Twitter”).
Tonight, LeBron was extremely efficient from the field. While he did convert all of his six attempts from the charity stripe, Bron had a praiseworthy 56% FG and 50% 3FG.
