The Minnesota Timberwolves did the basketball world a favor when they ousted the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs.
In typical Lebron James fashion, rather than merely take his losses on the chin, as other all-time greats have, he placed the blame on an extenuating factor, with injury being his go to excuse.
News emerged that James reportedly suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee.
Blaming a season-ending flameout on injury has become the standard operating procedure for James dating back to 2018 when his Cleveland Cavaliers were emphatically bested by the Golden State Warriors 4-0 in the NBA Finals. James arrived at the post-game media session following Game 4 with his hand wrapped and claimed he played the last 75% of the series with a broken hand. However observing James’ play in games 2,3 and 4 features forays to the hoop that ends in thunderous slam dunks, as well as shooting and dribbling with his right hand with seemingly no issues.
A legitimate groin injury suffered on X-Mas day cost LeBron 17 games.
With 15 games remaining in the season, James would announce that he was activating “playoff mode”, as the Lakers needed to make a playoff push. The activation of playoff mode resulted in the Lakers finishing an abysmal 3-12 and missing the playoffs. The injury, while legit, provided a convenient scapegoat for the Lakers’ lackluster performance down the stretch. The media arm of Klutch Sports pounced on the injury as their way to explain the Lakers coming up short and absolving LeBron of any culpability in the matter.
In 2023 he suffered a foot injury that kept him out for 13 games. According to James, he saw multiple doctors who recommended season-ending foot surgery, however a doctor, who James termed “the LeBron James of feet” was able to help him return to action much sooner than originally anticipated. James helped the Lakers reach the seventh seed and navigate the labyrinth of the nba play in a tournament to face the Memphis Grizzlies in the opening round. James averaged 22.2 appoints, 11.2 rebounds, and 5.2 assist as thevLakets dispatched the no.2 seeded Grizzles in 6 games. Up next were the Golden State Warriors, whom the Lakers defeated in 6 games. Again, LeBron put up solid numbers, of 24.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists on 49.5% shooting. The Denver Nuggets awaited the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. The Nuggets sent the Lakers packing via a sweep.
mediately the Klutch Sports media spin doctors went about their work, crafting a ready made narrative that laid the blame. at the foot of LeBron’s injury. LeAgents such as Kendrick Perkins boldly claiming on national television that it was the foot that held LeBron and ultimately the Lakers in their quest to reach the NBA Finals.
When the Nuggets bounced the Lakers from the playoffs once again a year later, James once again blamed the defeat on injuries saying this:
We lost, and you move on and see how you can get better but our season has been derailed all season with injuries and guys in and out.
“I talked about it all year. It’s hard to say who we are or what we can be because have yet to be whole. We were probably whole maybe one or two times this year and I know one of them was during the In-Season Tournament we got whole and we showed what we were capable of doing, but we were just hit with injuries to after injuries after injuries. It’s just hard to come back from that.”
Their latest postseason defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves was barely 48 hours old before, surprise, surprise, news surfaces of a Lebron James injury.
The injury allegedly happened when Lebron collided with Donte DiVincenzo and then proceeded to lie on the court like Optimus Prime had run him over.
Although he opted not to mention the injury or wear any props as in previous years, he was shown visibly hobbling after game 5, giving the LeSychophants the fuel for yet another one of their ill-fated and fallacious arguments in defense of their King.
