LeBron James absolutely lost his mind during the fourth quarter of the Lakers Game 4 victory to avoid being swept in their best-of-seven series against the Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers were in control with a 15-point lead early in the fourth quarter. But, James, with the season on the line and more than familiar with Denver’s ability to erase a double-digit deficit, was leaving nothing to chance.
After James swatted the ball away from Denver’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the ball traveled out-of-bounds before James could get it. James knew that Denver would get the possession. However, the Laker forward insisted that the ball did not come off his hand and that head coach Darvin Ham should challenge the play.
LeBron James was IRATE that Darvin Ham didn’t challenge this out of bounds call
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 28, 2024
LEAKED Audio Of LeBron James Getting Heated At Darvin Hamὄ:
“Challenge the f*cking play!” pic.twitter.com/mIlJqnfhDX
— LegendZ (@legendz_nba) April 28, 2024
The Nuggets scored immediately after inbounding the ball. Had Ham challenged the play like James said, they would have at least had time to draw up a good defense for the play.
But alas, he did not.
ESPN announcer Dave Pasch was unsympathetic to James.
“He compounded the problem by not paying attention, and then Denver got the easy basket,” Pasch explained.
Pasch is not wrong. James should have kept playing. However, and I realize no one wants to hear this, but James is absolutely correct for demanding that the play be challenged.
Lakers forward LeBron James knocks the ball away from Nuggets center Nikola Jokić on April 27, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Newsroom)
This was an elimination game. The Nuggets are the defending champs and could easily come back from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit. Especially with Ham inexplicably sitting star center Anthony Davis on the bench for most of the fourth quarter.
Of course, you have to challenge that call.
Saying James was right in this instance does not mean he is right about social justice issues, the anthem, Malcolm X, China, the police, guns, or any of the other infinite number of political issues that he is obviously clueless about.
Like the pope, James is only infallible when speaking on issues within his expertise and authority. And for all of his idiocy on virtually every issue other than basketball, James knows basketball, and he was entirely correct about this.
Eventually, James calmed down, and the Lakers managed to stave off elimination with a 119-108 victory. The Lakers will face another elimination game against the Nuggets on Monday night in Denver at 10 PM EST.
