National Basketball Association

Do LeBron James' 'winner' comments hint at Lakers split?

Updated Jan. 26, 2023 10:59 a.m. ET

The story of the Los Angles Lakers' season seems to be the same following each game: LeBron James puts up a high-scoring effort with several assists and rebounds, but it's nowhere near enough to help his team win.

It happened again Wednesday night when James collected 27 points with nine rebounds and six assists in a 112-98 loss to the Miami Heat. While James, who will turn 38 on Friday, said he wasn't sure about how much longer he'll play, the one thing he's clear about is he doesn't like losing. That would explain some of his remarks after the Lakers fell to 14-21 on the season.

"I'm a winner, and I want to win," James said following the game. "And I want to win and give myself a chance to win and still compete for championships. That has always been my passion. That has always been my goal since I entered the league as an 18-year-old kid out of Akron, Ohio.

"And I know it takes steps to get there, but once you get there and know how to get there, playing basketball at this level just to be playing basketball is not in my DNA. It's not in my DNA anymore. So we'll see what happens and see how fresh my mind stays over the next couple years."

The Lakers are 3.5 games out of the final play-in spot, as James & Co. face the possibility of missing the playoffs for a second straight season.

Shannon Sharpe liked James' message following the Lakers' most recent loss, believing it was a message to general manager Rob Pelinka that he has to fix things to maximize James' performance this season.

"He said, ‘Look at the level I’m playing at, and it's all for naught,'" Sharpe said on Thursday's "Undisputed." "I'm gonna average 27, 28 points a game, eight rebounds and seven assists and guess what? I'm going to be home again. I'll probably miss the playoffs for the third time in five seasons since I got to LA.'

"That's not what it's about. He says once you reach a certain level, and the greats reach that level, it's just not good enough to play that well. It's almost like they're playing meaningless basketball. ‘OK, I did this, but what’s it for? I played this way, I invest what I invest, I'm away from my family both mentally and physically — and what is it for? What am I doing this for?'"

Skip Bayless, however, thinks James is currently reaping what he sowed. He mentioned how he thinks James pressured the Lakers' front office into trading for Anthony Davis. While Bayless thinks that it was a good trade for them, it also left them hamstrung for the future as they gave up three young players, three first-round picks and multiple pick swaps. Meanwhile, AD is out indefinitely after sustaining another injury.

"This is unbecoming of LeBron," Bayless said. "I don't want to hear it now. I don't think his teammates want to hear this now. He's better than this. I get it, he wants to win and he's ashamed to be in the middle of this. But, the point is, he had a lot to do with getting in the middle of this because the biggest picture is, even though the ‘GOAT’ needs a scapegoat, and it feels like he's deflecting blame onto Rob Pelinka."

Bayless added that if James cared more about winning like he said he did, he could've found a better way to make it work.

"The point was they paid the freight," Bayless said. "It was $44 million and $47 million. Then, LeBron wanted max dollars, so they gave him max dollars. I tell you again and again, there's another way you can go at this. If you want to give Rob Pelinka a little more flexibility, you could go the Tim Duncan route because during those last three years in San Antonio, he took close to minimum salaries so they could maximize their bench."

On the bright side, James is close to passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the leading scorer in NBA history this season, and he's likely to break his record of most consecutive All-Star starts, which is 18. But Sharpe thinks that that isn't good enough for James, as he feels some people will remember him for failing to make the playoffs in multiple seasons with the Lakers.

That's why Sharpe thinks it might be time for James to get a divorce from the Lakers.

"Look at this man, he's averaging 28-8-6 and what's he going for?" Sharpe said. "Last year he averaged like, 30-8-6 and did what? So he's basically saying, ‘Rob, what are you going to do about this?’ LeBron might have to take his show on the road. He might have to move on down the road in order to get what he wants: Which is to play at this level and play meaningful basketball down the stretch and into this postseason."

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