The Los Angeles Lakers lost an overtime battle against the lowly Houston Rockets on Wednesday.
Despite putting in a solid performance, Lakers star LeBron James did commit something of a blunder at the end of the game by passing on a chance to take a potentially game-winning shot. Instead, he opted to pass up the ball to teammate Carmelo Anthony.
Anthony missed the 22-foot jumper, and the game went into an extra period. The Lakers then collapsed in overtime, scoring 10 points in OT and allowing the Rockets to drop 19.
The Lakers lost the game 139-130.
According to analyst Jay Williams, James’ decision to pass the ball in the final moments of regulation instead of taking the final shot “kills” the argument that James is a G.O.A.T. or greatest of all time.
“When you have a chance to bully your man to the rim and finish the game in regulation, but you decide to pass the ball to Carmelo Anthony, I want to quit the argument,” he said. “I throw my hands up. I’m just like, ‘That’s what people are going to use against you, LeBron.'”
Williams clearly has strong feelings about the play.
“It kills the whole argument about him being a G.O.A.T.,” he said.
It’s an interesting point, but it cannot be forgotten that the Lakers likely wouldn’t have been in the game without James. Without him, it’s quite possible the Lakers would have been run off the court. In the game, James played 45 minutes and recorded 23 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists.
Still, it was certainly disappointing to see James pass up an opportunity to grab a win.
The entire 2021-22 season has been one of missed opportunities for L.A., and now the Lakers are looking at the very real possibility of missing out on the postseason completely. They are currently in position to advance to the play-in tournament, but if they keep losing like they have been recently, that may soon fall through their grasp as well.
The Lakers have won just three of their last 12 games.
