LeBron James’ unbelievable game-winning 3-pointer that lifted the Los Angeles Lakers over the Golden State Warriors, 103-100, has the entire NBA spectrum buzzing.
From Skip Bayless’ criticisms of the shot, calling it ‘desperate’, to Charles Barkley and Stephen A. Smith debating it, James’ clutch bucket is the talk of the town.
But looking ahead, James’ 3-pointer secured the Lakers’ spot in the playoffs, locking them in as the seventh seed with a first-round matchup against Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns.
As the defending champions, the focus of Los Angeles is if they can overcome the odds as the seventh seed. If L.A. moves past Phoenix, they’d have to play either the third-seeded Denver Nuggets or the sixth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers.
If they advance to the Western Conference Finals, a matchup against the first-seeded Utah Jazz or the fourth-seeded L.A. Clippers is likely.
Assuming L.A. comes out on top from the West, there’s a good chance the Brooklyn Nets, headlined by James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, would be their opposition.
On the latest episode of ESPN’s “Get Up!”, Barkley brought up the topic that if James leads the Lakers to another title, with a multitude of tough opponents to face, James should have more consideration as the GOAT.
Smith balked at Barkley, saying he’d use the first seven-to-eight years of James’ career against him.
Though James’ early stages of his career weren’t fruitful in terms of winning titles, he elevated the potential of a Cleveland Cavaliers roster that severely lacked talent.
In the 2006-07 season when James led Cleveland to the NBA Finals, he averaged 25.1 points per game throughout the entire playoffs. The next best Cavalier, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, averaged 12.6 points.
The San Antonio Spurs, who swept Cleveland 4-0, had Tim Duncan (21.7 points), Tony Parker (19.9 points), Manu Ginobili (19.9 points) and Michael Finley (15.1 points) leading the way, so it wasn’t James’ inability to play that cost him some titles.
Check out the full conversation here, courtesy of ESPN’s YouTube channel.
