Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James drew the attention of former Laker champion Byron Scott when he said that suiting up for 82 games in a single season is more difficult at present than it was in the past due to the drastic change in style of play. Scott pushed back on this notion and was downright furious at James, even imploring him to pack his bags and leave LA just for making that kind of remark.
While James' agent, Klutch Sports Group CEO Rich Paul, has his back, Paul refused to outright call Scott out for his remarks towards the Lakers star out of respect for one of the OGs of the sport.
“You can say or do something that looks or feels good in the moment, but looks foolish and probably is foolish and lives foolishly forever. For me I was always taught to respect my elders. To respect everyone, but definitely to respect my elders,” Paul said on the latest episode of the Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman.
“But then someday I sit there and think, and I see things, and I’m like but what about when your elders do things or say things that actually warrants disrespect. And it’s been a lot of that going on.”
Lakers star LeBron James did not say anything wrong
It's not like James said anything wrong; the three-point revolution spawned the birth of an era of breakneck pace, and with there being so much talent in the NBA nowadays, as well as the rules that encourage freedom of movement which lead to plenty of open shots, defenses have more ground to cover than ever — leading to some wear and tear.
It's more difficult to play an 82-game season nowadays, and there's no coincidence that a lot of players have sustained soft-tissue injuries throughout the course of the 2025-26 campaign.
Old heads like Scott can get defensive about how they paved the way for the likes of James to take the sport where it is now, but the game has definitely evolved, and it's best for people like Scott to catch on.
