LeBron James Drops F-Bomb While Talking About Lakers’ Playoff Exit

Dan Gartland | May 8, 2024

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

LeBron James bowed out of the playoffs in the first round for just the second time in his career this year as the Los Angeles Lakers were ousted by the Denver Nuggets in five games. It was a hard-fought series, with no game decided by more than 11 points, and now that it’s in the past, James took a moment to reflect on what went wrong for his team.

On the newest episode of his Mind the Game podcast with J.J. Redick, James said he felt the Lakers missed plenty of opportunities that could have swung the series in their favor.

“F---, we had so many opportunities, man. To lose in five, two of them being game-winners by Jamal [Murray] and his greatness. But we had so many opportunities,” James told J.J. Redick on their Mind the Game podcast. “Obviously, being up 20 in Game 2 in their building and losing that game and having so many opportunities in other games, you just feel like, s---, one play here, one play there, could have made a difference. When you're playing against a team like that, you have zero room for error. And I believe we made too many errors in some of the games.

“Emotionally, I feel like we was right there, obviously, in every game, to be able to steal a game. But, at the same time, we weren't, and that's why we lost the series. ... I feel like a couple plays here, a couple plays there, we could have won the series. But the better team won. The better team won, for sure."

.@KingJames reflects on the Lakers playoff exit and gives credit where credit is due.

Episode 7 of Mind the Game with LeBron and @jj_redick is now live: https://t.co/PZEPZ7YtS3 pic.twitter.com/c0tL7hkPfV

— Mind the Game (@mindthegamepod) May 8, 2024

This is the second year in a row that James and the Lakers have been eliminted from the playoffs by Denver. Last year, Los Angeles survived the play-in tournament and reached the conference finals before being swept by the eventual champion Nuggets.