Lakers News: LeBron James Takes Shots At LeBron James For Ineffective Game 5 Performance

LeBron James has some salient points about that LeBron James guy.

Following a rudderless 116-99 blowout defeat to the Memphis Grizzlies in what could have been a closeout opportunity last night, Los Angeles Lakers small forward LeBron James acknowledged his own culpability in the loss.

"Tonight, I was s---," James said to gathered reporters in postgame remarks, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic. "And I'll be better in Game 6."

Scheduled for Friday in Crypto.com Arena, Game 6 now becomes almost a must-win scenario for the Lakers, who had been leading this series 3-1 against a young, athletic Grizzlies team missing some major size in absentee big men Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke. The momentum is slowly shifting to Memphis now, and if LA falls in a second straight bout, a Game 7 would be on the road in a raucous FedEx Forum.

To avoid that, LeBron James needs to submerge himself in an ice bath, get a couple platelet-rich plasma injections, and revisit the "LeBron James of feet" today.

Because, while he was being a tad overdramatic, James was right in that he submitted his worst game of the series, by far, on Wednesday night, and that will not be enough to cut it next time.

He scored just 15 points on a paltry 5-of-17 shooting from the floor, pulled down 10 rebounds, dished out five dimes (against five turnovers), and notched a block and a steal to boot. That scoring line is far below his series average of 22.2 points on .457/.167/.679 shooting splits. That 16.7% conversion rate on 7.2 triple attempts a night is particularly onerous. For a guy who's that unsuccessful to keep chucking that kind of volume truly reeks of someone who can't read the room. James is most likely preserving his body a bit by trying to connect on the perimeter rather than absorb contact on constant drives, but unfortunately, Derek Fisher he ain't.

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