LeBron James took the blame upon himself for the most recent loss that the Los Angeles Lakers suffered. As many NBA fans should certainly be aware, King James is currently in Year 21 and is still the best player on his team and arguably a top 10 player in the league today. He has been playing at an elite level in order to keep the Lakers in contention for a spot in the NBA playoffs.
At the moment, the Lakers hold a record of 9 wins and 7 losses. They were on a 3-game winning streak before losing to Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the Dallas Mavericks with a final score of 104-101.
This was quite an unfortunate loss for the Lakers considering that they were in a position to tie or win the game several times toward the ending stretch. During the postgame interview, LeBron revealed that his teammates should not be blamed for this loss and shouldered the responsibility himself. Now that we have the context of the situation, let us take a closer look and find out more.
LeBron James blames himself for messing up his final pass to Anthony Davis
Even though losing a single game does not mean much in an 82-game regular season, King James blamed himself for messing up on the final possession against the Dallas Mavericks. Fans who watched the game will know that LeBron made a crucial blunder towards the end of the game.
With a much smaller Kyrie Irving guarding him, King James tried to lob a pass inside to Anthony Davis. Unfortunately, Davis was covered by both Luka Doncic and Richaun Holmes. They were able to stop the pass from getting through and assured the Mavs of victory. After the game had ended, LeBron used an NFL analogy to explain that it was his mistake.
“Yeah left a little short right read, quarterback I just left it short… I didn’t lead my receiver and got picked off.”
LeBron James on his late turnover on a pass to Anthony Davis: “I didn’t lead my receiver and got picked off” pic.twitter.com/9COejo4Nlu
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 23, 2023
It is certainly saddening for Lakers fans to have lost this game considering they had a chance to win it and were leading just a few possessions before the final moments. King James even had a chance to make a game-tying three-pointer but ended up missing.
The Lakers have gotten off to a considerably good start this season
Although the Lakers could have certainly won this game against the Mavericks, losing shouldn’t kill their momentum by too much. The team has already gotten off to a much better start this season at 9 wins and 7 losses. Especially when compared to their 2-10 start to last season.
Therefore, the team shouldn’t feel too demotivated by this loss and must ideally shift their focus to their next game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. We look forward to seeing how the Los Angeles Lakers fare this NBA season.