The blow of Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference final of the NBA at the hands of the Denver Nuggets resonates strongly in the United States. All eyes were on that devastating 4-0 that disfigured the Los Angeles organization. So forceful was the victory of Nikola Jokic and company over the team he leads LeBron James, which the player himself acknowledged that he will evaluate if he wants to continue playing. In this context, criticism for the Lakers multiplied and The King was not saved, since Charles Barkleya former NBA figure turned television commentator, took direct aim at him and questioned his status as the most important player in history after a final series in which he was “swept.”
“If you pretend to be the best basketball player in history, you can’t be eliminated in white in a Conference Finals”, thus began Barkley’s harsh criticism. The former player, member of the 1992 Dream Team and member of the NBA Hall of Fame, did not stop when it came to talking about LeBron James: “This sweep will taint LeBron James’ career forever and will be the ghost that haunts him his entire career. You have had a season in which you have become the top scorer of all time and now they paint your face like that in a Conference Finals ”.
And far from calming the waters, Barkley maintained his position regarding LeBron’s place in the history of the competition: “This is the trigger to affirm that he cannot be considered the best player in history. The GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) cannot have a negative record in the Finals let alone have sweeps in the Conference Finals. He is one of the best in history, but he cannot be the best”.
The future of LeBron James
The Los Angeles Lakers cannot get rid of the pain of the very hard setback against the Denver Nuggets for the Western Conference final. And much less can he get the possibility of LeBron James making the decision to leave the game out of his head. Thousands of speculations have been made in the last hours and nobody dares to give a sentence about the future of The King.
Given this scenario, the one who broke the silence was the manager of the Lakers, Rob Pelinka, who read the context well and his words allow us to understand that they need to create a healthy environment so that LeBron does not leave the franchise. “LeBron has given as much to basketball as anyone who has ever played. When you do that, you earn the right to decide whether you want to continue (or retire),” Pelinka told Los Angeles Times reporter Dan Woike.
In the same line, Magic Johnson, winner of five Larry O’Brien trophies with the Lakers, took the floor, who wrote on his Twitter account: “Laker Nation are a couple of things that we now know… we have the right coach with Darvin Ham, two superstars in LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and rising stars in Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. Hopefully Rob Pelinka will have an outstanding offseason and build on this playoff run.”
YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN | ON VIDEO: “Enough is enough”: Spain raises the pressure against racism in football
2023-05-24 15:10:51
#considered #player #history
