Even in his age-40 season, LeBron James is doing incredible things for the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite some of those, Bill Simmons has his skepticism, and not for his play. Rather, it’s for his longevity.
For instance, James injured his groin on Saturday, which is expected to keep him out for one to two weeks. Following the Lakers trading for Luka Doncic, much of their depth is gone.
As a result, the Los Angeles All-Star has sometimes had to compensate for the lack of depth by playing more minutes. Not to Simmons’s surprise, James became injured. He detailed more on his podcast and pointed the finger to the Lakers organization.
“LeBron got hurt, which you know, he tweaked the groin, we’ll see how long he’s out,” Simmons said. “This is the problem when you’re overcompensating for these things that are missing. You can fly around, and you can look really good on a Thursday night game, but it’s not sustainable.
“You can’t put that kind of rebounding and defensive pressure on LeBron. They might drop down now to the 4 or 5 seed. We might get Lakers vs. Warriors Round 1, it’s not inconceivable at this point. Which I think would be just a nuts series.”
Bill Simmons blames the Lakers for LeBron James’s injury
James continues to show his all-around game at his age. However, it isn’t too Simmons’s liking. While the Lakers All-NBA forward is playing 34.9 minutes per game, he’s been tasked to do more.
With Anthony Davis out of the picture, Los Angeles has had to use more defensive schemes involving James. The latter can play defense, but it’s not too ideal for him to do so.
After all, he spends a majority of the time carrying the offense and initiating plays for himself or his teammate. Since Doncic arrived though, there’s been a shift.
He has an elite ball-handler and shot-creator that he hasn’t had on the perimeter since Kyrie Irving. As a result, there is more attention James can divert to the defensive end.
Again, it’s not keen for the age-40 forward to be defending at an All-NBA level. Plus, the team is capable of solidifying a spot in the playoffs. Keeping him healthy is a top priority, despite how healthy he usually is.
Although Lakers head coach JJ Redick said that they need to play hard and play defense with James absent, losing arguably their best player never helps.
All they can do is hope that James has a quick recovery. Still, it won’t eliminate Simmons’s concerns about the Lakers superstar.
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