“Microcosm of the Bubble Championship”: Skip Bayless Undermines LeBron James Leading Lakers to NBA Cup Win, Claims Other Teams Weren’t Interested

FS1 analyst Skip Bayless, for the longest time, has tried to undermine LeBron James’ place in the GOAT debate. Bayless is quite infamous for his takes on James and the Lakers, which often consist of scathing criticism and disapproval of their various achievements. In the latest episode of UNDISPUTED, Skip Bayless and Keyshawn Johnson engaged in a heated debate on the topic of the Los Angeles Lakers winning the inaugural NBA Cup this season.

The Lakers went undefeated throughout their In-Season Tournament campaign and ultimately overwhelmed a formidable Indiana Pacers side 123-109 to clinch the title. However, Bayless believes that other teams in the tournament did not take the competition as seriously as the LeBron James-led Lakers did. Hence, this ‘championship’ was not a significant win, as per Bayless, for the Lakers’ trophy cabinet.

In an attempt to justify his argument, the FS1 analyst said, “Before Saturday night, you went to Philadelphia and lost by 44 points. It was the worst beating LeBron has suffered in his entire 21-year career. And then, two nights later, you were in Oklahoma City you lost by 23 to the young Thunder. And LeBron is talking about how a lot of things got to change.” 

Bayless tried highlighting the Lakers’ recent losses against the Philadelphia 76ers and the Oklahoma City Thunder to prove that the team was more focused on winning the NBA Cup than improving their record for a top playoff seed.

Furthermore, Bayless stressed on how the teams were put in a ‘bubble-like’ situation in this tournament, which led them to not take this competition as seriously as the Lakers did. He compared this situation to the 2020 NBA Bubble, where the Lakers clinched a championship with LeBron James spearheading the team.

Adding to his point, Bayless said, “A whole lot of teams, almost bubble-like, did not take this nearly as seriously as LeBron and Co took it. So, it became a microcosm of the bubble championship where a bunch of teams were like, ‘We are out, we don’t care.’ So, it doesn’t matter.” 

Keyshawn Johnson sternly opposed Bayless’ view and called the analyst out for his takes. Johnson tried pointing out that every team had put their best efforts into winning both the 2020 NBA Bubble Championship and the In-Season Tournament, trying to prove Skip’s point as baseless. However, the 72-year-old analyst, as ardent as he always is in his takes about LeBron James and the Lakers, stuck to his point and refused to accept the views of his co-analyst.

Skip Bayless does not consider the charm of the $500,000 cash prize for the In-Season Tournament substantial

The In-Season Tournament’s $500,000 cash prize for every player of the winning team was the charm that made the NBA teams compete for the title. Many players have explicitly expressed their wish to win the extra cash this season and have also elaborated on their plans of splurging this prize money after winning the tournament. However, Skip Bayless does not consider the prize money as the charm of the tournament and regards this competition as less important than the NBA championship.

However, despite Bayless’ apprehension, many players have shown their motivation in trying to win the bag. After the Lakers’ first win against the Phoenix Suns in this competition, LeBron James showed his excitement to win the prize money and said, “Y’all heard that there’s $500,000 on the line, so we’re going for that.”

Just a few days after James, former #1 pick Zion Williamson also reiterated the same as the Pelicans’ motivation to win the In-Season Tournament title. Well, the Lakers and LeBron James kept their word and indeed won the championship for the $500,000 cash prize. This win gives the Lakers’ players an added cash bonus, and also motivates them to continue this terrific form going further into the season.