The Los Angeles Lakers’ season may be over, but LeBron James never just completely disconnects from the game of basketball. The superstar is a basketball junkie and is undoubtedly tuning in every night to the NBA Playoffs.
One of the most exciting games of these entire playoffs was Game 5 between the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers. Tyrese Maxey would hit a deep 3 to send the game to overtime where they would ultimately beat the Knicks. But a lot of discussion was had afterwards about the Knicks decision to not foul Maxey before he ever took the shot.
Many felt the Knicks should have fouled and one of those is LeBron James himself. On the latest episode of his Mind The Game Podcast with JJ Redick, LeBron broke down his thought process over fouling when up three late in the game and says he would have fouled Maxey in that situation:
“What are all the circumstances that’s going on at this point? So you’re up three, is it under 24 seconds left in the game? Do we have a timeout? What are some of the cases? I was watching a game last night, obviously New York up three. Tyrese [Maxey] had just hit a four-point play, they come back down Josh Hart goes 1-for-2 from the free throw line to put them up three. Philly’s coming down and I personally, I would’ve fouled. I would’ve fouled before Tyrese even crossed half court.
“And it has to be on the downward dribble. If you’re gonna foul you have to foul on the downward dribble. It’s hard and sometimes a lot of guys are afraid to do it too. A lot of coaches are afraid to tell their team to foul when they’re up three because either one – they haven’t worked on it – or two – with our rules and things it gets tricky sometimes and you send a guy to the free throw line because you tried to foul him in the case. But I am fouling. I am fouling, I am fouling, I am fouling. Guys are too great, man. Guys are too great.”
The skill level in this league is unreal and there are so many players like Maxey who will absolutely make teams pay and can knock down unbelievable shots. As such, it is often better to not even give teams the chance.
But LeBron is also right in that it can be tricky and players know how to manipulate the rules sometimes so the timing has to be just right as sending someone to the line for three free throws in that situation is the worst possible outcome.
LeBron James reflects on Lakers playoff loss to Nuggets
LeBron James also took some time during this podcast episode to speak on the Lakers playoff loss to the Denver Nuggets and was honest in his assessment.
James felt that the Lakers made too many mistakes against the Nuggets when it mattered most and lamented their inability to fix those issues. Ultimately, he felt like the better team won, but he clearly knows that the Lakers had chances to steal multiple games and that won’t sit well with a competitor like him.
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