Sports analyst and noted LeBron James hater Skip Bayless is up to his old antics again after the former host of First Take and Undisputed fired more shots at the Lakers superstar. The team will face the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, requiring them to fly there from their last game versus the Phoenix Suns. Moreover, none of the Lakers' preseason games are at home, due to the current renovations to Crypto.com arena.
Bayless reacted to this post from James on X, formerly Twitter.
“Can someone please explain to me why we're getting on a ✈️ and heading to Milwaukee for 1 pre-season game!?!?” the Lakers superstar said.
Then, his nemesis hit back with this post.
“LeBron: They're paying you $50 million a yr. If they say they need you to fly to Milwaukee for a preseason game, you just have to suck it up & tough it out. Yeah, somebody's doing a big-business favor for somebody else–you know how it works. But just be a leader & get thru it,” Bayless posted.
LeBron James on Year 22
It's not the first time that the King has complained about something the NBA has forced him to do.
Back in 2021, LeBron James whinged about the play-in tournament, saying that “whoever came up with that s**t needs to be fired,” even as the Lakers ultimately played there to advance to the playoffs. Moreover, they went through the play-in to reach the postseason every season after that, as if in punishment.
Now, though, Bron's complaints about flying to Milwaukee seem more benign and sounds more reasonable, given that the man is already near 40 years old and perhaps doesn't want to travel so far for a game he doesn't need to play in.
However, his nemesis does have a point in that he is team captain, and he needs to fulfill his responsibilities as leader. His co-captain, Anthony Davis, hasn't made a fuss about flying to Milwaukee, either.
New coach JJ Redick did say that it was “not an ideal preseason schedule,” so the King does have a supporter, at least. After the Bucks, the Lakers will play with Warriors in Las Vegas, the Suns in Phoenix, and the Warriors, again, in San Francisco.
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Additionally, Skip Bayless' job is finding fault in whatever LeBron James is doing, stoking the reactions of his fellow haters, but after doing this shtick for so long, without a response from James, it's easy not to take him seriously at all.
Onto the new season
The Lakers do have to worry about James getting reps with his team, whose new rookie Dalton Knecht might see meaningful regular season minutes right away.
His son Bronny, per Magic Johnson's advice, might spend some time in the G League to develop his skills. Likewise, the elder James needs to get used to the schemes and systems under Redick's leadership.
