NBA World Reacts To LeBron’s Play-In Tournament Comments
LeBron James has made his thoughts on the NBA play-in tournament pretty clear. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar announced this week how vehemently against it he is, and the NBA world has quickly clamped down on him.
It didn’t take long at all for one Twitter detective to track down previous comments LeBron made on a play-in tournament just over a year ago. In March 2020, LeBron advocated for a play-in tournament during the pandemic-shorted 2019-20 season.
LeBron in late March, 2020: "You got Portland. You got Memphis…New Orleans and Sacramento tinkering around there…so if there's five or ten games left…why not those guys battle it out? Make them play each other all five games?" https://t.co/y9tbcBsNow
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) May 3, 2021
Granted, that was an unusual circumstance, while this is a “full” NBA season we’re working with. Even so, NBA fans are not amused at the shift he’s taken.
Many are pointing out that LeBron waited all the way until his Lakers were on the cusp of making the play-in tournament to speak up. Considering that there’s a greater-than-zero chance LeBron could lose to a 9- or 10-seeded team, they feel it’s a bit hypocritical.
LeBron 🤝 Mark Cuban
Not raising a strong objection to the play-in until it looked like his team might be in it
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) May 3, 2021
It went from “just wait until LeBron and AD get back” to “abolish the play-in tournament.” 😭😭pic.twitter.com/DfIZ9OT7kb
— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) May 3, 2021
But LeBron is far from the only big name in the NBA to raise an objection to the play-in tournament. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Mavs forward Luka Doncic have raised their own objections.
Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reported that the coaches and executives want the play-in tournament to feature seeds 8-10 instead of 7-10.
LeBron and Luka are not alone. Many coaches and executives would prefer the NBA’s play-in tournament feature only the 8-, 9- and 10-seeds. More on the first-annual event at @BR_NBA: https://t.co/magMej2fU8
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) May 3, 2021
The 2021 playoffs are going to be an unusual one. Doubly so if a lower seed beats a top seed in the play-in.
But LeBron James waited way too long to voice his objection to be taken seriously right now. If he wants to avoid participating and possibly losing in the play-in tournament, LeBron needs to get the Lakers back on track ASAP.
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