It was another night to forget for the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James.
The Lakers capitulated in the final moments of their contest against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night, and Shannon Sharpe believes one man must take responsibility.
After a buzzer-beater went in their favor against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, the Lakers had a taste of their own medicine courtesy of the Bulls.
James was the hero with a tip-in to beat the Pacers when time expired, but he became the villain against Chicago when Giddey hit a 47-foot 3-pointer over him from beyond ]half-court to seal a 119-177 win.
It was truly a remarkable unraveling for the Lakers, who were up as much as 18 points in the fourth quarter and up by five with just 12.6 seconds left.
Patrick Williams’ 25-foot jumper closed the home team to within two, before a barely believable baseline pass from James was stolen by Giddey to tee up Coby White for the lead.
Austin Reeves put the Lakers back in front, but Giddey was on hand again, making the three his own half to complete the collapse for the Lakers.
“Devastation,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said after the loss.
“It’s a hell of a way to lose a basketball game.”
When the wheels fall off like that, everyone looks for someone to blame, and for NFL legend Sharpe, it’s James who has to take responsibility for that loss.
“Bron, you’ve got 2 be f****** kidding me. You gambled and gave up a 3 and turned it over that led 2 another 3,” Sharpe posted on his X account.
“What was a 5 pt lead with 12 secs. You’re down with 6 secs and lose on a half court shot after Reaves puts you up 1 with 3 secs.”
The NFL Hall of Famer then went further with his criticism when speaking on his podcast, NightCap.
“This was on LeBron, he has not played well,” Sharpe added.
“Why would you gamble in that situation? Why? Why would you gamble with a lazy pass? Come on, man! I just don’t get it, he has not played well in the last three games.
“I’m not saying anything that anybody who has watched the Lakers over the last three games isn’t thinking, but a lot of them don’t have microphones so they can’t say it.”
James didn’t hide from taking responsibility after the defeat, telling reporters he made a mistake.
“Horrible turnover by myself,” James said after finishing with 17 points on 8-for-20 shooting, 12 assists, 2 steals and a team-high 4 turnovers.
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Reaves, who put the Lakers up by one before James’ error, took accountability too.
“I think the miscommunication might’ve been I was trying to hold [his defender] off instead of popping to the ball,” he said.
“I take just as much as responsibility as I’m sure he did. Hopefully, we’ll talk about it and figure it out so next time that won’t happen.”
Even Giddey was confused as to how such an opportunity came for him.
“He kind of just bounced it,” Giddey – who had 25 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists – said of James’ errant pass. “I was surprised at how easy I was able to grab it.”
Thursday’s crucial error caps off what has been a turbulent few days for James, who has been brushed into the spotlight for things off the court.
The four-time NBA champion has had a very public feud with ESPN personality Stephen A Smith, a spat that began in early March when James confronted the commentator at a Lakers match.
In recent days, their feud went viral again when James addressed the controversy on The Pat McAfee Show, where he slammed Smith for making comments about his family.
Smith quickly responded on First Take and later on his podcast, where he made a sensational claim about potentially swinging at James.
Later, Smith would also claim that James did not attend Kobe Bryant’s memorial, a statement he later retracted.
James and the Lakers will have to quickly pick themselves back up as they head to Memphis on Saturday to take on the Grizzlies in another crunch match ahead of the playoffs.
