Skip Bayless implies LeBron James stat padded vs. Pelicans: ‘Highly unimpressive points’

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James put together yet another big scoring performance in his 22nd NBA season in Los Angeles’ win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday. He dropped 27 points and reached that point total in pretty efficient fashion, as he shot 9-of-17 from the field, 2-of-7 from deep and 7-of-8 from the line.

But longtime sports media talking head Skip Bayless was quick to downplay the impressiveness of James’ scoring showing. He noted in a post on X that the Pelicans were without plenty of their best players in the contest, leading him to question why James played 33 minutes.

In Bayless’ defense, it is indeed true that New Orleans was quite undermanned on Friday. Key players like Zion Williamson, C.J. McCollum, Trey Murphy III, Dejounte Murray and Herb Jones all did not play against the storied franchise.

However, at the same time, James was just L.A.’s third-leading scorer versus the Pelicans. Lakers guard Luka Doncic scored a game-high 35 points while fellow guard Austin Reaves chipped in 30. They each played more minutes than James, yet Bayless did not imply that either of them were stat-padding.

Bayless has long been a staunch critic of James, and it’s safe to assume that trend will continue as the Lakers wrap up their regular season and prepare for the playoffs.

Los Angeles’ win over the Pelicans marked its third victory over its last four games played. James has played at a high level from a scoring standpoint during the auspicious stretch, scoring 25-plus points in all but one of those four contests. His lone unspectacular scoring showing in the last four games came when he scored 16 points in a win against the Houston Rockets.

The Lakers can pick up their second victory in a row and further their grip on the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference when they take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. The Thunder own the top record in the conference and entire league, but they’re on the heels of a loss to the Rockets on Friday.