“He missed the late free throw that would've at least clinched overtime?” - Skip Bayless fires shots at LeBron James despite stellar Drew League performance

LeBron James played in a Drew League game for the first time in more than a decade last week. In a jam-packed gym that had fans swooning in adoration of the four-time MVP, “King James” gave them a treat.

The LA Lakers superstar, who played with Chicago Bulls All-Star DeMar DeRozan, finished the game with 42 points, 16 rebounds and four steals. He was also 2-13 from beyond the arc and missed a crucial free throw, which was all Skip Bayless needed to chirp.

The unabashed LeBron James critic tweeted after the Drew League game ended:

“Love it that LeBron played in the Drew League today. But: he shot only 2-13 from three??? He missed the late free throw that would've at least clinched overtime? Some things never change.”

The 18x All-Star was indeed horrible from three-point distance and muffed a late free throw. But one could easily see that neither he nor DeRozan were going full throttle. Bayless, though, will not let go of opportunities such as these and could consistently bring it up every once in a while.

Over the years, the veteran sports analyst has lambasted LeBron James for inefficient three-point shooting and crucial misses from the free-throw line. Last season, he consistently called out the four-time champion for disappearing in several late-game situations to avoid shooting free throws.

Bayless also tweeted this all the way back in February 2020:

“LeBron James: All-time great. But no MJ. No Kobe. No real killer instinct. No clutch gene. No late-game free-throw maker.”

Unfair or not, the Drew League game will serve as another arrow in Bayless’ quiver to throw at the LA Lakers superstar. The fact that James and DeRozan won by only two points will be more fuel for the Fox Sports analyst to use.

The thousands of fans at the gym, though, couldn’t have cared if the basketball icon missed everything. They were just thrilled to get a chance to see the NBA’s biggest superstar.

In a game scheduled for 1:45 PST, fans began lining up to enter the gym as early as 6:00 AM PST. Many of them couldn’t afford a ticket to Crypto.com Arena and were just excited to see their idol in person.

Magic Johnson understood what James’ appearance meant to LA Lakers fans in the area and posted this:

“A big thank you to LeBron James for playing in the Drew League in South Los Angeles yesterday and giving all the young fans who can’t afford to go to a Lakers game and have never been to Crypto.com Arena an opportunity to see him play in person.”

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LeBron James had a chance to literally get back at a critic

LeBron James had a grand time dropping 42 points on a critic in a Drew League game. [Photo: The SportsRush]

Dion Wright, who was LeBron James’ primary defender, criticized the superstar during the latter’s Miami Heat days. Wright called out James on Twitter for failing in big games and mocked a possible return to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Roughly a decade after this tweet, Wright finally got the chance to play against the NBA superstar. He saw firsthand what it meant to play against the man he ridiculed before and had this to say:

“He dropped 40 I had 20 for every 2 points he had I had 1 . . . That’s really a once-in-a-lifetime player we had no nba guys they had 2 and only loss by 2 points if bron doesn’t show up we win for sure”

Losing by just two points will likely be a huge story for every member of the opposing team. It’s not every day that they play against NBA All-Stars and nearly pull off a win.