The Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks are scheduled to play in a preseason game on October 10th. As excited as the fans of both teams are, Lakers superstar LeBron James did not share the sentiment, as 'The King' took his fuss to X (formerly Twitter).
James' social media gripe earned thousands of replies and retweets. One who never let these moments slide is Skip Bayless . Like clockwork, the former Fox Sports analyst took a moment to lecture James about the NBA business and effectively told the four-time champion to "suck it up."
The Bucks visited Crypto.com Arena last year for a preseason game, and nobody complained. Maybe it's LeBron's way of admitting he is old or had other engagements to attend to. However, as Skip pointed out, it's James' duty to lead his team during these moments and do so by example.
Related: "That guy put in the work" - Phil Jackson said his proudest Kobe Bryant moment was when he defended his teammate on Jimmy Kimmel
Skip reignites the LeBron beef
This isn't the first time Bayless criticized the four-time MVP. In fact, he does so every single chance he gets. Some say Skip was just taking the road less traveled, trying to stay relevant by dissing LBJ while most media personalities glaze over him. Whatever Skip's agenda is, he always comes at Bron with guns ablaze.
Bayless targeted James' inability to consistently hit jumpers as far back as 2006. When LeBron decimated the Pistons in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals, Skip still found fault in James' historic performance. According to Chris Broussard, the controversial media figure nitpicked Bron's missed jumper at the end of regulation, essentially blaming the then-Cavs forward for not sealing the game with a buzzer-beater.
Over the years, Skip's schtick was calling out LeBron for a lack of effort and lack of toughness. Bayless never included the 20-time All-Star in his top five all-time players and even ranked Larry Bird over James . In 2012, the Oklahoma native thought out loud and said the Akron native isn't a first-ballot Hall of Famer. As far as irrational hate goes, Skip's resentment toward LBJ is in a class of its own.
The Internet is undefeated
As silly as the complaint and the reactions were, fans are always treated to tongue-in-cheek replies from dozens of Internet personalities in these situations. Greg, an anonymous social media celebrity and the unofficial CEO of Dogecoin, had many in stitches.
Even the Milwaukee Bucks social media people joined in on the fun:
However, some comments were not as friendly.
The Lakers' preseason
Beef and jokes aside, the Purple and Gold have a new coach and, therefore, a new system in place, so they need as many reps as possible. The early returns are encouraging, as the offense featured much improved ball movement and spacing . Everything looked smoother, and the shots LeBron and Anthony Davis had were within the offensive flow.
As much as James hates that preseason flight to Wisconsin, no team needs it more than the Lakers. It's a necessary part of the grind and a step toward the bigger picture the Purple and gold haven't seen in some time.
Related: “You can ask my wife, Ernestine, Friday nights, or date nights, I don't miss LeBron” - Skip Bayless finally reveals he’s a LeBron James fan
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