Summary: Barcelona - Girona 69:72 (Sport 1)
LeBron James' frustrating season continues.
Tonight (between Wednesday and Thursday) James again contributed with 30 points, 8 rebounds and 5, and again saw how it was not enough for the weak Lakers, who lost 114:101 to the Clippers in the derby, and were left with the second worst record in the NBA - nine losses compared to only two wins.
It was the ninth consecutive loss for the Lakers in the derby, and continued the trend in recent years, where the urban prestige is only on one side (since 2012, the balance in the derby stands at 7:34 in favor of the Clippers).
If the Lakers' professional troubles are not enough, medical problems are also emerging now: LeBron left with an injury five and a half minutes before the end of the game, and it is still not clear what the severity of the injury is.
LeBron himself estimated that it was not a significant injury and said that "if it was a playoff game, I would probably continue to play", but the final answers will come only after he undergoes an MRI later today.
The Lakers have an equally challenging schedule in the upcoming games, and they hope that James will be able to return for the upcoming game the day after tomorrow against Sacramento.
Either way, LeBron is upset for completely different reasons: according to him, the referees do not give him enough respect, and do not whistle enough fouls to his credit. Tonight James reached the free throw line only 4 times, and according to him this is a trend.
"I like a physical game, but also want the ref to blow the whistle when I get hit," James said.
"Again I only get to the penalty box four times. I saw a lot of players who played tonight and got to the penalty box 9 or 13 times even though they shot a lot more from the outside. Maybe I need to learn to flop. Seriously, I need to learn how to do that, so I can get to the line more times. I don't get enough whistles, and it's already starting to repeat itself. It's been three games in a row that the referees admit to me that they missed whistles to my credit."
James' complaints surprised many in the NBA because LeBron has a reputation as quite the flopper.
In the past he was even fined by the league and warned twice following the predictions.
On social networks, LeBron's statements were mocked, and one of the reporters covering the Lakers wrote: "If you didn't laugh when you heard that, you don't have a sense of humor."
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With LeBron win or no whistles, the Lakers look very bad, and the criticism continues.
Although LeBron continues to reach his numbers and continues to get closer to breaking the all-time single player points record held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but when it comes to team success, he is stuck in place.
Now the commentators claim that staying in the Lakers was his big mistake, in light of the fact that the team was not able to form a quality and balanced team around him to help him continue to compete for championships.
"In my opinion, signing the new contract with the Lakers last summer was the mistake of his life," said Richard Jefferson, who won a championship with LeBron with the Cubs.
"He left Cleveland, won a championship, and I think he signed the new contract just to show the team a commitment, so that they build the right team around him. But we all saw this team last season, we saw that it was built just wrong, and this season it didn't add any players Significant. Rob Flinka just confused him. What did Flinka even do as a general manager? LeBron came to the Lakers because he wanted to go to LA, Anthony Davis wanted to play with LeBron and win championships, but the management of the team actually didn't really function. When LeBron signed The new contract, he actually sent a message to the Lakers - I want to be here, feel free to make moves to build a good team around me. He behaved professionally to stay, but the Lakers did everything the other way around. For two decades, the NBA already knows what the formula is to build a winning team around LeBron.
They threw it all away.
This is perhaps the greatest player of all time.
It doesn't matter if you rank him first, second or third on the list of greatest players ever, he is a superstar.
And that's the staff you're building around him?"
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NBA
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LeBron James
Los Angeles Lakers
