LeBron James' Brutally Honest Statement on Lakers

The Denver Nuggets eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers

Apr 16, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) looks on / Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Nuggets eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5, sending them home behind another game-winning shot from Jamal Murray. The first round exit for Los Angeles opens the door to a lot of different possibilities this summer. For LeBron James, he was brutally honest after the loss when asked if his team being competitive in this series gives any added confidence going forward.

"No, we lost," James said. "I’m not a participation guy. We lost and we move on. Our season has been derailed all season, just with injuries and guys in and out. I said it all year, it’s hard to say who we are and what we can be because we have yet to be whole. We were probably whole maybe one or two times this year. I know one of them was the In-Season Tournament we got whole and we showed what we were capable of doing. We just kept getting injuries and injuries and injuries and that’s hard to come back from."

For James, the goal is always a championship. Anything less than that is a failure, which makes this first round exit far from what he and the team envisioned for this season. While the Lakers did play the Nuggets tough, that ultimately counts for nothing.

There are a lot of questions for the Lakers to answer this summer, including the potential free agency of James, who has a player option for next season.

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