LeBron James was given a brutal reality check by ex-Los Angeles Lakers teammate Markieff Morris, who believes the 40-year-old star is best served as a third option behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves
LeBron James has not played this season due to sciatica (Image: Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
LeBron James has been told he should be lower in the pecking order than Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, especially as he continues to recover from his sciatica issue.
The 40-year-old star has not played a minute this season for the Los Angeles Lakers as he continues to work his way back into game shape, though it is reported that James is set to return at some point in November. For now, the Lakers continue to show fight behind the two-headed attack led by Doncic and Reaves.
Considering how well the Lakers have played to this point without James, those around the league, like former Lakers teammate Markieff Morris, have wondered if James is the same presence he once was. This comes after a sports pundit bashed James for watching the Los Angeles Dodgers during the World Series.
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“Now, I’m saying he’s number three,” Markieff Morris said while streaming with his brother, Marcus, when asked where James would be among the Lakers’ scoring options when he eventually returns to the lineup. “Yeah, I’m saying, I think he’s behind Reaves now.
“I think by him not being, like, the focal point puts him down a couple options. He’s still super dominant. It don’t take away nothing from his game, though. It don’t take away nothing from his game. At all.
“I’m saying like the position that he in right now, he’s the number three option on that team.” The Morris brothers then went back and forth on how they envision James to play, especially since Reaves and Doncic have shown out in the time that the 40-year-old has been out.
James and Markieff Morris won a championship together in 2020(Image: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Considering how the Lakers have fared without James thus far this season, currently 6-2 as of writing, many have begun to ask just how pivotal the 40-year-old will be to the team when he returns. Specifically, sports pundit Craig Carton called out James for what he believed was a failed gambit by the star.
“He’s choosing not to play … the reason LeBron James, according to a lot of people with inside information and just my belief, is not playing basketball right now is because his feelings are hurt,” Carton stated.
“And now he’s in a situation where everyone is acknowledging it’s Luka’s team now. Luka Doncic is the best player on the Lakers, and based on the five-game start, and they’re a game over .500 with last night’s win against the T-Wolves, again, no Anthony Edwards either, so kind of a weird game to handicap, right?
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“But the reality is that he might not even be their second-best player, the way Austin Reaves is currently playing. Let’s give him his flowers. So he’s in his feelings right now. Wah! No one’s talking about me like they used to talk about me. I’m not the best player on the team anymore. Wah!”
Carton added: “LeBron James thought with him sitting out, the Lakers would struggle and they’d get off to a really, really bad start. Let’s just call it 15 games, I don’t know, five and 10, that type of thing.
“And that they would beg him to come back and they would plead with him to come back. And the fanbase would be, ‘We need LeBron. We need LeBron.’ But here’s the reality that he didn’t count on: Austin Reaves is really, really good.”
For now, it remains to be seen how the Lakers will continue to fare without James, though some around the league have made it clear that the 40-year-old’s spot with the Lakers has been cemented during his time away from the court.