Indiana Pacers legend and NBA announcer lashes out at LeBron James for comments made on the play-in tournament.
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LeBron James and the LA Lakers have been in the middle of a whirlwind lately, on and off the court. Before their recent game against the Nuggets, the franchise had lost its last three games, despite their stars making a return. Later on, fans found out that the King would once again be on the sideline for an unspecified time, due to his ankle injury being aggravated.
Still, to their credit, without James and even Dennis Schroder (health and safety protocols), the franchise managed to snap their losing streak against Denver. However, the team is far from being out of the woods.
The LakeShow sits 5th in the West. Without context, that isn’t too bad for the franchise. However, their record of 37-28, isn’t much better than the 7th seated Blazers’ 36-29. So, unless they can get a winning run going, they could be straight back in the play-in tournament spot.
Recently, LeBron James spoke out about the competition, calling for the person who introduced the concept to be “fired”. And while many have chosen to either ignore or agree with the star, it appears Reggie Miller disagrees completely.
Also Read: What is the NBA play in tournament?: NBA Play-in Tournament format and rules explained
Reggie Miller accuses LeBron James of being hypocritical about the play-in tournament
As previously mentioned, not many high-profile names in the NBA community have publicly reacted to the King’s controversial comments. But, NBA legend Reggie Miller has already had enough.
In a recent appearance on ‘The Dan Patrick Show’, the former player fired some serious shots at LeBron James.
“Where was all this talk a month ago? Two months ago? When the Lakers, when Boston, the Dallas, they were securely one of the top six teams. Now they’re on the outside, possibly looking in… there’s a little bit of crying.”
Miller continued on the topic. “LeBron goes down, AD goes down, and now they’re kind of on a nose-dive, looking at 7 through 10. So, I don’t wanna hear all the crying.”
The Indiana Pacers legend later also went on to talk about the current situation of the Lakers, and why they should be worried ahead of the playoffs.
“Our starting point guard not in the lineup was just another blow to us.” — LeBron James on finding out Dennis Schröder would not play because of the COVID-19 health and safety protocols #Lakers #LakeShow
— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) May 3, 2021
“To me, it’s all about health. And, if LeBron and AD are healthy, the Lakers are always the team to beat. Now I know LeBron has been back two games… and they just have not looked well.”
At 36 and struggling with injuries, it is understandable for LeBron James to be a bit peeved by the idea of participating in a few extra games. However, as Miller said, if it really mattered to James in an objective sense, these complaints should have come a lot earlier.
Unfortunately for him and the Lakers, no amount of public displeasure is going to take away the play-in tournament. So, the franchise needs to do whatever it can t get a win streak going to hopefully avoid falling into a play-in spot this season.
Also Read: Lakers star is influencing NBA fans to take anti-vaxxer stances for Covid-19 vaccines
