Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has some choice words for the non-believers who continue to discredit his team's 34-8 start to the 2019-20 NBA regular season.
In the aftermath of the Lakers' 124-115 victory over the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center on Saturday, the 35-year-old four-time MVP went off on critics who claim that the team benefits from beating sub-par teams but can't get a win over other contenders.
Via Spectrum Sportsnet (h/t Christian Rivas of Silver Screen & Roll):
.@KingJames chats with @LakersReporter about how the team was able to change the game's momentum in the second half and the #Lakers faithful showing love in Houston. pic.twitter.com/wW4CWxeXtY
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 19, 2020
“No, because we can’t beat teams with winning records. That’s what they say, right?… It’s good wins for us. It’s really good wins for us … It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a playoff team, not a playoff team, it’s just about that moment right then and there. You want to take that challenge no matter if the team is in the playoffs or the team is not in the playoffs,” said LeBron James, who had 31 points, 12 assists, and five rebounds versus the Rockets.
“We lost to a team the other day that was sub-.500, but we don’t go into games saying ‘they’re above .500, they’re below .500. We say ‘this is a team that could beat us if we don’t play to our potential, and that’s how we approach every game. We just try to zero in on that game plan and then move forward. We had a great game plan tonight, the coaching staff gave us a great game plan and we executed,”
It is true that the bulk of the Lakers' wins are against below .500 teams, accumulating a 22-1 record over struggling squads. The unjust criticism also seems to come from the fact that the Purple and Gold have yet to secure regular-season wins over the two biggest contenders from both conferences.
The Lakers lost both their encounters against bitter rivals Los Angeles Clippers so far, while they were also outclassed by the Milwaukee Bucks in their first meeting.
The Lakers are still the number one team in the Western Conference and are four-and-half games ahead of the second ranked Denver Nuggets. The team is still without their other superstar Anthony Davis, who remains out after suffering a tailbone injury.
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