NBA News Roundup: Skip Bayless goes off on LeBron James for restricting LA Lakers with new $85M extension

The NBA season is just around the corner and now that the opening night's fixtures have been announced, there is a real buzz for play to begin. Several teams have improved their rosters this offseason and both the West and East look stronger overall than last year. With press conferences happening every day now looking ahead to the season, there is plenty to analyze in the latest NBA News Roundup.

In this NBA News update, we have a look at the criticism LeBron James is facing after signing a contract extension and what Steph Curry had to say as he previews the Warriors 2020-21 season.

NBA News: Skip Bayless criticizes LeBron James' new contract

2020 NBA Finals - Game Six

One of the biggest NBA News stories of this offseason has been the announcement that LeBron James will be extending his contract with the LA Lakers for a further two years. The deal is a maximum-level contract, using $85m of the Lakers cap space. This has led to criticism by Fox Sport's Skip Bayless, who believes that if LeBron were the real 'GOAT', he would've taken a smaller deal.

LeBron adds two more years to his contract, which will eat up $85 million of cap room. A true GOAT, Tom Brady, has always taken less to maximize the talent around him. Tim Duncan took peanuts his last 3 seasons for the same reason. Not the faux GOAT.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) December 2, 2020

There has been a lot of talk in NBA News over the past couple of weeks about LeBron and Anthony Davis taking smaller contracts in order to bring in another star as soon as next year, such as Giannis Antetokounmpo. Bayless discussed the likes of Tom Brady in the NFL and Tim Duncan taking smaller contracts so as to improve their sides as a whole.

Ultimately, LeBron can negotiate for whatever contract he wants. The LA Lakers will have been delighted to sign him on for an additional two years as someone who can easily take them to multiple more titles in that time.

NBA News: Steph Curry discusses the Olympics and James Wiseman in his press conference

Toronto Raptors v Golden State Warriors

Talking to the press today was Golden State Warriors point guard and future hall-of-famer Stephen Curry. Curry has been MVP of the league twice in his career and is the leader of his young Warriors side alongside Draymond Green.

The Warriors have had a mixed offseason. They went into the 2020 NBA Draft with the No.2 overall pick. However, they learned on the same evening, in NBA News, that star guard Klay Thompson would be missing another season after picking up an Achilles injury in training. With their draft pick, they selected Center James Wiseman and Curry had this to say about his new teammate:

"Success for him will be framed in a lot of different ways. It might not be what the stats look like. It might be being part of meaningful basketball, helping us win."

Steph Curry also went on to discuss next year's Olympics after it was announced in NBA News that they would take place shortly after the NBA Finals, saying he had no idea if he would play yet.

Stephen Curry on if he still plans to play in the Olympics if it still takes place next summer: "Honestly, I have no idea. Very open-ended question, and I have no idea."

— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) December 2, 2020

The 2020-21 NBA season will be turbulent, not least because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Golden State Warriors will hope they can return to the top of the West and keep Steph fit throughout the season. If they can do this, who knows how far they can go in the playoffs.