Isiah Thomas ripped into LeBron James as he ranted about the level of ‘professionalism’ in the NBA on Friday night.
The Hall of Famer took issue with LeBron warming up shirtless ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers game against the Houston Rockets.
“I just totally, 100% object to this,” Thomas said as the NBA TV crew watched the four-time champion put up shots.
“If I was the GM or coach, I would never let one of my players walk out on the floor looking like this.
“I mean, we are the professional, NBA league. We ain’t Summer League. We ain’t at the YMCA.”
Thomas went on to clarify that he is a ‘fan of LeBron’ – who is among the greatest NBA players in the world – but questioned why he wasn’t wearing uniform to warm up.
“I just think the professionalism in our NBA league has diminished so much,” he continued.
“Look, I like LeBron, I’m a fan of his, so forth and so on.
“But to walk out on the floor before a game, with no shirt on, and shoot, I mean, come on, man.
“Where we at? What we doing? Where we at?”
Thomas, a Detroit Pistons legend, even went as far as suggesting he would fine James if he was the NBA commissioner.
“Adam Silver, if you want to fine somebody, fine that. Put a fine on that,” he said.
Thomas’ rant soon went viral on social media, with many fans questioning why LeBron warming up shirtless was such a big deal to him.
“Old heads hating. Nothing new here,” one person said.
“They’re reaching for anything to hate on, it’s wild at this point,” another wrote.
“You’re a grown man complaining about another man being shirtless? C’mon,” a third responded.
“LeBron is such a stand up dude that the talking heads have to pretend s*** like this is dramatic. Getting flack from these clowns for shooting without a shirt on, circus behaviour,” a fourth said.
James went on to play just 22 minutes against the Rockets on Friday night, before he exited the game after appearing to aggravate a groin injury.
He scored 14 points while on the court and despite his second-half absence, the Lakers picked up a 140-109 win at Crypto.com Arena.
Coach JJ Redick said afterwards that LeBron was ‘fine’.
With the win, Los Angeles wrapped up the Pacific Division title and clinched the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
