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LeBron James had a rather cryptic tweet following the LA Lakers' 138-122 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday. It was the Lakers' second loss in a row in their six-game road trip.
Hours after the game, the four-time NBA champion took to X to share the hourglass emoji, triggering speculation among fans that head coach Darvin Ham was being fired. Other fans questioned whether someone was being traded.
"Who did you just trade," one fan commented.
Here's a quick look at James' tweet:
And the reactions poured in soon after:
The Lakers were outplayed by the Hawks, led by Trae Young (26 points) and Dejounte Murray (24 points). The rest of their starters, and Bogdan Bogdanovic (18 points), hit double-figures as LA suffered without Anthony Davis.
Austin Reaves (28 points) and LeBron James (20 points) did the bulk of the scoring for the Lakers, though it wasn't enough.
While Ham has had the backing of the front office, LeBron James' latest tweet has put the spotlight on the head coach.
LeBron James calls on teammates to step up after ugly loss to Hawks
LeBron James and the LA Lakers have not had a great season. Their six-game away stretch started with a double OT win against the Golden State Warriors, and they have lost two games since, a 135-119 loss to the Houston Rockets and a 138-122 defeat against the Hawks.
A blunt James called out his teammates after the loss, saying:
“I don’t have any message for my teammates. ‘Just go out and do your job.’”
LA doesn't have a lot of time to recoup as it has one day off before heading to the TD Garden to take on the Boston Celtics. Soon after, it will head to the Madison Square Garden for its skirmish against the New York Knicks on Saturday.
Losing both games will see them hit a four-game slump, one they cannot afford. It remains to be seen if James and the Purple and Gold show up with their best for the tough challenges this week.
