“Michael Jordan would’ve never left his team on the floor”: Jalen Rose goes off on LeBron James for giving up on the Lakers once Anthony Davis got injured

Jalen Rose compares LeBron James to Michael Jordan by saying Jordan would’ve stayed with his team till the end, unlike the Lakers star. 

The Los Angeles Lakers suffered an ending to their 2020-21 NBA campaign that rightfully summarized the way their season had gone up until that point. From the first game of the season against the Clippers, where LeBron James tweaked his ankle, to the last game of their postseason run where Anthony Davis could not go on any longer due to a groin strain, the Lakers were destined to fall due to injuries. 

They did so in 6 games against a Phoenix Suns team that wasn’t all too healthy either as Chris Paul has not yet had a CP3-esque performance in the postseason due to a nagging right shoulder injury.

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With the Suns having wiped the floor against the Lakers in Game 5 and 6, both bouts saw LeBron James have a couple of uncharacteristic moments leading up to the final buzzer of the game. Game 5 saw LeBron James leave the floor with nearly 6 minutes left in the game. Game 6 would see the 4x champ head back to the locker room without shaking any of the Suns players’ hands. 

LeBron James left his team on the floor; something Michael Jordan would’ve never done. 

In a segment talking about the Game 6 bout between the Clippers and the Mavericks, Jalen Rose broke down how he felt when he saw LeBron James have two unsportsmanlike moments in back to back games. 

“You know what Michael Jordan ain’t do? He didn’t ask to come out of Playoff games; and I saw my brother the ‘King’ do that 2 times. He knew that when Anthony Davis went out, they didn’t have a chance to win that series.”

Also read: “Don’t need to prove anything to anyone outside the Lakers organization”: Superstar Anthony Davis sends out a bold message to the haters criticizing his decision to play Game 6

It is quite tiring to have any and everything LeBron James does be scrutinized and immediately compared to how Michael Jordan approached situations. In terms of leaving the floor early in Game 6, he showed respect to Devin Booker on several occasions following the loss. Not only did they dap each other up postgame, but James gave him props for his performed in his postgame availability. 

The one fault that can be pointed out about the way LeBron James played is that he was much too passive. If you were to compare him to Michael Jordan here, no matter the circumstances, Jordan would come out the game shooting any type of shot he wanted to.  

James on the other hand, made it clear that he wasn’t personally looking to dominate on his own and instead tried to get good looks for his teammates. Even when he did try to get aggressive, he was missing shots at the rim.