Shaq, D-Wade Say LeBron’s Lakers “Quit” Against Mavericks

LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA News
NBA Analysis Network

The Los Angeles Lakers have taken the brunt of criticism around the NBA as of late. With LeBron James in the fold, the team is supposed to contend for a championship. Instead, they have made it a habit out of losing games on nationally televised games.

On the NBA on TNT broadcast, Shaquille O’Neal, who is a Lakers legend for leading the team to a three-peat alongside Kobe Bryant, saw a real lack of effort from the team against the Mavericks.

“You gotta at least put more effort into it. I don’t mind losing, but when you don’t have a lot of effort, it shows that – and I hate to use this word – it looks like they’re quitting,” O’Neal said. “I hate to use the word.

“… I don’t see a lot of effort out of this team. They still can do something. I’m not talking about winning a championship, but if I was them, the first goal would be, ‘Let’s get out of this (9th) spot.’ And let’s just start coming together, let’s start playing together. We know if we play together, we show effort, and play hard, we can compete with whoever No. 1 or whoever No. 2 is.”

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Among the players not contributing consistent effort is LeBron James, who at times, was more focused on complaining to referees than he was about getting back on defense—resulting in some easy scoring opportunities for the Mavericks.

Dwyane Wade, James’ former co-star during the time with the Miami Heat, stated there’s “no sense of urgency” with this Lakers team. Wade went further to say “there’s no pride” they are playing with.

“There’s no sense of urgency with this team. Like Shaq said, it’s not about winning a championship at this point. This is about pride. There’s no pride out there with this team. They pull apart from each other.”

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With how often key members of the Los Angeles Lakers talk about giving more effort but fail to do it themselves, the genuine desire to win needs to come into question at some point. LeBron James ended up leading the Lakers to potential comeback, but Russell Westbrook comes into focus in this regard.

Russell Westbrook often just states at open shooters he is supposed to run out to contest, has off-ball lapses where off-ball movement just isn’t something he cares about keeping tabs on, and he does not contain dribble penetration often. In the most classic sense possible; he’s a defensive liability.

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It’s inexcusable for LeBron James to not be leading by example throughout games, however. It’s taken to another level when he is outright giving up scoring opportunities to the opposition in what ended up being a close game.

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