Ask anyone what the first name they think of when they hear Skip Bayless. They'll likely tell you, LeBron James. The popular talking head saw his name and fame explode in the mid-2000s when he was a commentator on a show called "Cold Pizza." From there, Skip took off in his scathing critiques of 'The Chosen One' from Akron, OH.
If you've followed Bayless long enough, you're probably aware of why he tends to target LeBron. There are many reasons: Choosing to wear No. 23 (like Jordan), "borrowing" Jordan's chalk toss and getting "The Chosen One" tattooed across his back. But that aside, Bayless' biggest issue with LeBron has been his ability (or "inability") to shoot the basketball.
"If he's really serious about becoming a great player, he'll hire a shooting coach and shoot 1,000 jumpers a day through the offseason. Michael and Magic taught themselves to be very good shooters in their third or fourth pro seasons. Yes, LeBron improved dramatically from last season -- but he still has a long, long way to Michael or Magic," Skip wrote in 2006.
Whether Bayles was out-of-bounds in his conclusion that LeBron was a seriously poor shooter is one thing. It was his obsession over—what some would call "nit-picking"—finding something wrong in James' game that he could pounce on. Defenders of the young forward would grow irate over Skip's fixated criticisms. While he may have been correct in his assessment of The King's jumper, that doesn't dismiss the fact that LeBron was still arguably the NBA's best player at barely a legal age.
Skip slammed LeBron after a historic performance
Coming back to the fixated criticism, this was a screaming example. Skip even took issue with a late moment in James' historic Game 5 performance against the Pistons.
First, it would have been natural for LeBron to think about how no one expected the Cavs to beat Detroit in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, much less play San Antonio for a title. It also would have been easy for him to mail it in after his team went down 0-2 to start the series. Instead, exactly seven days after falling in a hole, James bullied the Pistons to 48 points—25 straight—including 18 in the two OT periods.
Despite playing a flawless game, Bayless came on TV and criticized The King for missing the game-winning shot at the end of regulation. Remembering the morning after James' scintillating performance years later, former ESPN reporter Chris Broussard recounted Skip's egregious criticism of LeBron in 2007.
"Let me tell it how it is: There is one reason and one reason only that some people have considered [James] 'not clutch,'" Broussard began . "This is a credit to this man's influence. It is our friend and colleague Skip Bayless. I mean that sincerely. Every single weekday of LeBron James' career, Skip has been beating the drum that 'he isn't clutch,' and that's before there was any evidence of it."
"I remember being on TV with Skip the day after LeBron scored 48 against Detroit. 29 of Cleveland's last 30 points and 25 straight in a win, and he was 22 years old in a playoff game five. [Cleveland] eventually went to the Finals… I was excited because I was like there's no way Skip's going to be able to find fault with this performance, and he pointed out, I guess, LeBron missed the regulation jumper at the end of [Game 5 vs Detroit]," he added.
Related: Michael Jordan opens up about his older brother Larry not making the NBA: "He has always been a good player, but he just didn't grow enough"
Not one peep from LeBron
This may be one of the most unfathomable things about LeBron. Even in a digital age where everything can be '"spur of the moment" and impulsive, James hasn't replied to Skip or publicly acknowledged him even once. In 20+ years, he has kept his feelings to himself. Reminder: Guys like Kevin Durant are responding to the 'average Joe' regularly.
Bayless has over-magnified many events in James' career—mostly the bad ones. While he has gone on record many times stating that he "doesn't hate LeBron," he is still widely recognized as James No. 1 "hater." After all these years, people have wondered how Skip will transition once the Los Angeles Lakers superstar retires. But considering No. 23 continued excellence, it looks like the sports pundit will continue receiving the opportunity to fire away.
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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