LeBron James unhappy with Lakers after blowout loss to Pacers
LeBron James suffered the worst loss of his superstar career on Tuesday (Feb. 5). - [House of Highlights / YouTube screencap]
The Lakers' 42-point loss marked the worst loss in the career of superstar LeBron James.
February 5, 2019 at 10:58 PM February 5, 2019 at 10:58 PM
On Tuesday (February 5), the Los Angeles Lakers suffered a 42-point blowout during a road loss to the Indiana Pacers. As one might expect, NBA star LeBron James wasn't too pleased with the worst loss he's suffered during his legendary career. However, some of the blame for the loss may come with the recent Anthony Davis trade talk that made headlines and swirled around the team's players.
Lakers' players rattled by trade talk?
Over the past few days, many of the Los Angeles Lakers players have been mentioned in trade offers with the Pelicans. The two sides had been unable to come to an agreement.
On Tuesday, it was reported that the Lakers gave a final trade offer to New Orleans to try to bring Anthony Davis to Los Angeles with LeBron. That deal included pretty much all of the Lakers' youngest stars from the roster. Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, and Ivica Zubac were all included.
Hearing their names mentioned as trade assets probably doesn't sit well with the Lakers players. It's likely that it carried over to their minds as they prepared to play a game for the team that wanted to trade them. The Indiana Pacers' fans even used the trade rumors for chants against Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma during the game.
"LeBron's gonna trade you!"
Pacers fans have ZERO chill right now 😬 pic.twitter.com/0qRhOg28vc
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 6, 2019
It certainly showed in the NBA box score as Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram scored just 12 points each.
Kuzma shot 5-of-13 and Ingram shot just 4-of-8 in the game. Big man Ivica Zubac hit 4-of-5 shots but only had eight points for the game, while Josh Hart didn't play, nor did Lonzo Ball, who has been sidelined for several weeks with an injury.
LeBron's thoughts on worst loss of his career
Prior to Tuesday night's loss, LeBron James never suffered a loss on any team by more than 35 points.
That happened twice in a 10-year span. One of those biggest losses came in January 2017 against the Golden State Warriors, as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The other was back in November 2007, against the Detroit Pistons.
LeBron led the team with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, along with nine assists and seven boards. King James also became the youngest player to reach 32,000 points in his NBA career.
Despite reaching the career milestone, LeBron James expressed his frustration over the recent loss. Bleacher Report showed a video clip of the possible team chemistry issues with LeBron sitting several empty seats away from his teammates during the loss.
Lotta open seats on that Lakers bench... pic.twitter.com/UHYAkQUiLl
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 6, 2019
After the game, LeBron spoke about the effect that the Pacers fans chanting about trades might have on his Lakers teammates. He expressed the idea that it's not something that should bother them as it's "just fans being fans." He added, "if you let that bother you, you're in the wrong sport. Fans are going to be fans. I've heard all." LeBron also mentioned that he advises teammates to avoid social media if seeing stuff on there "bothers you," saying that he learned to tune out what was being said about him earlier in his career.
In addition, LeBron said he's not quite 100 percent yet after his groin injury, but that tonight's dunk he had is a sign he's getting better. James commented, "I was able to get up there and be very explosive vs a top shot blocker."
Reporters also asked Lakers head coach Luke Walton about the trade rumors having an effect on the players. Walton commented that it's tough to answer that as "it's different for everybody." He mentioned he's been part of teams where some guys couldn't play because of it and in other situations where nobody cared about the talk and did their jobs.
LeBron James: "I was able to get a dunk. That means I'm getting better and better. I'm still not at a 100% with my injury and also my timing. I had some turnovers. That's going to come with my rhythm, so I was able to get up there and be very explosive vs. a top shot blocker...
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) February 6, 2019
While the NBA trade talks might have faded a bit in terms of sending off all their young talents in exchange for Anthony Davis, the team will have to find a way to move on.
There's still a possibility of a trade if New Orleans decides to reengage with Los Angeles and give a counteroffer. However, the deadline arrives on Thursday afternoon at 3 PM ET.
If the players keep a mental state like they showed in tonight's game, Lakers fans may not see their team reach the playoffs this season, even with LeBron's best efforts.
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