“LeBron had 31, 14 and 8 and had zero impact on the game; When the game was in the balance, he was nowhere” - Chris Broussard claims LeBron James’ numbers were empty like Russell Westbrook’s was last season

Despite LeBron James putting up incredible numbers, the LA Lakers were pummeled by the Golden State Warriors in both teams’ season-opener. LA managed to stay close in the first half but were badly exposed in the second half.

On “The Odd Couple” podcast, Chris Broussard didn’t take much significance to James’ prolific numbers in the Lakers’ lopsided loss:

(Starts at the 7:05 mark)

"LeBron had 31 [points], 14 [rebounds] and 8 [assists] and had zero impact on the game! I wanna watch a few weeks of these before I declare LeBron’s no longer a top 10 player in the league. Last night, he didn’t look like a top-10 player to me. When the game was in the balance, he was nowhere."

He added:

"He was pacing himself, he wasn’t doing much at times ‘cause of his age. And obviously, he’s not defending as he once did."

LeBron James almost had a double-double in the first half as he had 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Together with Anthony Davis, they kept the defending champs within striking distance. Russell Westbrook also contributed 11 points and six rebounds during that time.

When the game was in the balance in the third quarter, the Lakers’ Big 3 turned out to be ineffective. At one point, the Warriors' lead ballooned to 27 points, which took the air out of the Lakers. Golden State launched a crippling 32-19 spread in the third canto, which turned the rest of the game almost academic.

Like they often did last season, the LA Lakers, behind LeBron James’ exploits, trimmed the margin down to 12 in the fourth quarter. Steph Curry’s timely sniping did just enough to cruelly end the Lakers’ hopes of coming back.

Broussard continued his analysis of the four-time MVP’s performance:

“He’s gonna break Kareem’s record and that’s gonna be awesome. But you can’t look at LeBron’s numbers, just like you couldn’t look at Westbrook’s last year, 18 [points], 7[rebounds], and 7[assists] and say he played well. Anybody who does that, you’re not really watching what’s happening.”

If LeBron James’ impact is nothing more than putting up numbers when the game is all but decided, the Lakers are doomed to fail again.

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Critics accuse LeBron James of stat padding against the Golden State Warriors

Los Angeles Lakers v Golden State Warriors

When the Golden State Warriors' lead reached 27, LeBron James was still at 19 points at that time. He played more loosely when the outcome looked like a foregone conclusion and added 12 the rest of the way.

The NBA season is an 82-game grind and when things looked over, some fans asserted that “King James” could have removed himself from the game. There’s no doubt that at some point the Lakers will give him time off, so resting him against the Warriors would have been prudent.

Skip Bayless promptly took notice of this and criticized James:

“LAKER NATION: Get used to this: LeBron just put on a 4th quarter show in what had become a Warriors blowout. This season is all about Passing Kareem.”

The season still has a long way to go and the stat-padding criticism will likely never go away. “King James,” however, can silence some of his doubters if he can lead the LA Lakers to the playoffs.