LeBron James’ Latest Mind The Game Soundbite Opens up More Scrutiny From NBA Fans

LeBron James hits back at critics who say he has 'no bag', pointing to his NBA record points tally in response.

LeBron James’ Latest Mind The Game Soundbite Opens up More Scrutiny From NBA Fans

LeBron James was selected to the All-NBA 2nd Team (Image via FirstSportz)

Hate him or love him, you just can’t ignore LeBron James. Even though he’s no longer the force he used to be, James is always the man around whom NBA talk is centered. This has been the case for the whole of his career. If James passes gas while walking to his locker room, ESPN will catch wind of it and run a segment on it. That’s just how it has been for the Lakers’ superstar, even 22 seasons into his NBA career.

In the course of setting and breaking all kinds of NBA scoring records, one of the constant critiques of James has been his inconsistency at making jump shots off the dribble. LeBron James has become one of the NBA’s leading shotmakers on pull-up jump shots late in his career. But it was never a cornerstone of his offense during his best days as an athlete and a scorer. There isn’t a spot or shot you can associate with him.

This has led to a lot of people belittling his scoring ability. He is said to be overly reliant on driving and scoring in the paint. When you look at his highlight tape from the earlier years of his career, it is mostly layups and dunks. Although James worked on his jumper after Kyrie Irving left Cleveland and he now has a few characteristic spots on the floor where you know his shot will go in, it’s not a core part of his legacy.

‘No bag’ conversations have been had around his scoring ability throughout his career. James has never spoken about this public perception of his ability to get buckets openly. Until recently. King James is now a regular podcaster with his platform Mind The Game alongside former MVP Steve Nash. James addressed this talk in the latest episode of his podcast, where he hosted teammate and co-star Luka Doncic:

I see it all the time. I’ll be on social media, (seeing stuff) like LeBron has no bag. I’m sitting over there, seeing ‘LeBron has no bag’ and I have like 50 million points.

NBA fans debate whether LeBron James can claim to have a bag after his latest statement

It is clear to any longtime NBA follower that James’ way of addressing this question dodges the core issue. The truth is, James averages less than 38% on shots taken from beyond 3 feet away from the hoop. Yet, all he talked about while addressing the ‘no bag’ allegations were his career totals. However, this is not a logical rebuttal to the true question being asked of him.

The previous record holder, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, also technically didn’t have a big ‘bag’ of sorts. Though the six-time MVP undoubtedly had a lot of scoring skill, particularly close to the bucket, that skillset isn’t what is being referenced in ‘bag’ talks. This was pointed out by a number of fans in response to the latest soundbite off Mind The Game.

However, James also received stout support from many factions of NBA Twitter. After all, he’s the biggest superstar of the century playing for the most storied and popular brand in basketball.

Irrespective of which side of the debate fans fall on, it is awesome to see a player react to discourse and curb it with their own input. Fans need more basketball talk and less barbershop talk to dominate discourse around players and teams.

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