Most of us, even those who aren’t basketball lovers, have heard of LeBron James. If nothing else, they know that he’s one of the greatest basketball players ever to set foot on the court. But those of us who do know a little bit more about the 39-year-old would also know the path he traveled to get the global acknowledgment he now boasts. In fact, those ‘King James’ can probably recite every single date, time, and more in their sleep if asked.
And while he had to deal with a lot of stuff in his career, thanks to the ‘Chosen One’ tag and the “generational talent” hype, the idea that he might have had to deal with “bad energy” is probably a first. However, it seems that bad energy is very much a real thing. And Bron has had his fair share of it, too.
LeBron James reveals his strategy of working his way through bad energy
In the latest episode of The Shop, a very diverse group joined LeBron as he discusses how he deals with negative energy. “I will start with that individual first, but if I know I can’t get through to him at a rate that I need him to get through to, I have to shift it to somebody else,” he said.
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Not satisfied with this response, Jerry Lorenzo, one of the guests, popular fashion designer, and founder of streetwear apparel, Fear of God, approached it from a different angle. “At what point do you say, ‘Hey, I’m LeBron James and our goal here is to win a championship and make a change?’” The ever-ready ‘L Train’ had a classic response to that, too. “One thing – a real friend of ours, Jimmy Iovine [said], [and it’s] one of our favorite quotes is ‘When the sh*t get bigger than the cat, you get rid of the cat.’“
“Because at the end of the day, nobody’s bigger than what’s our main goal. We all come here as a team, we say we a team, we set the main goal, and every time quarterly, we saying, ‘Okay, this what we want to accomplish,’ and then out of left field you coming in here and you saying,’ No I ain’t going through the back door. I’m going through the front,’” Bron stated incredulously.
“The enemy is right there at the front door. Don’t go through the front. We can go through the back and infiltrate through this way and be more tactical about it. This is what I’m on. I’m going through the front … Go ahead, go through the front. Respect! Do your thing. The rest of us, we going to tackle through the back.”
There was a moment of silence after that, after which Maverick Carter, James’ long-time friend and business manager, remarked that it took him a long time to develop that attitude. Why don’t we take a look at five instances where the 4x champion lost his cool with teammates?
The ‘Akron Hammer’ had to deal with his teammates going against instructions at crucial points of a game
The first and perhaps the foremost incident happened during LeBron James’s second stint with the Cavaliers. The characters involved in this high-pressure situation were Bron and former guard J.R. Smith. Cleveland was in a crucial face-off with the Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
The matchup had progressed to a point where the Cavs had a chance to pull one over the Dubs. With just 4.7 seconds on the clock, sharpshooter Klay Thompson fouled George Hill, who received two free throws, thanks to a foul call. Hill hit one of his two free throws, tying the game at 107. It was from here that the game quickly spiraled downwards. Smith, who was at hand, grabbed the rebound and dribbled in the opposite direction, to the surprise of everyone.
By the time J.R. took note of the clock and passed the ball, it was too late. The clock hit zero, the game went into OT, and the Warriors took advantage of the opportunity, hitting it home with a 124-114 victory! James was, needless to say, furious.
Cameras zoomed in to see his reaction, and he asked something along the lines of ‘What do you think you’re doing?‘ Seeing there was no need to further waste time, he walked away. But the frustration on his face was written as plain as it could be.
A 2-for-1 shot in late October 2022 saw Russell Westbrook receive the short end of the stick from LeBron
Los Angeles was leading by one point against Portland and they just had under 30 seconds to close the game. However, Westbrook thought he would pull up for a mid-range jumper and seal the deal for good. Unfortunately, it clanked off the rim and into the waiting hands of the Blazers. After the matchup, Russ confirmed that he was indeed going for a 2-for-1, further inviting even more criticism.
LeBron James, in his presser, had a hard time controlling his emotions. “That shot is a bad shot. You gotta use more of the clock, take more time off before you even make a play, and even then, why would you take that specific shot? Russ used to be a good mid-range shooter. But ever since arriving to LA, his mid-range shot has completely disappeared. His percentages have gone way down and I don’t care if he banks in a few here or there. Overall, Westbrook is no longer a good jump shooter.”
The Lakers superstar had more to say, but you get the idea. Fast forward to January 2023, and we see another James-Westbrook situation. After the Purple & Gold’s fifth straight win in early Jan, Darvin Ham was in the locker room, getting the guys’ spirits up. Bron took over from Ham as he encouraged his teammates to be greedy for more. But Russ wasn’t having any of it.
He quickly added his own pearly wisdom. “Be happy for the next man. Keep having fun bro. Win, loses, y’all have fun. Just keep having fun, bro.” The way the 20x All-Star shot a side-eye to Russ said more than words ever could.
The ‘L Train’ goes off on LAL as poke-the-bear guy Dillon Brooks and the Rockets took the win in late January matchup
The 2023-24 season has been one the Lakers would sooner put behind them. But it surely had a lot of controversial moments. And one such circumstance was when Los Angeles matched up against Houston. The first quarter of the late January game saw the Rockets take an early lead that resulted in a stunning 135-119 victory.
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The presser saw a thoroughly annoyed LeBron post-game. “The first half was lost in the last two-and-a-half minutes of the first quarter … We didn’t have a care factor in those last two-and-a-half minutes.” And as if to add insult to injury, the ever-present Canadian was successful in getting under the skin of many Lakers, Jarred Vanderbilt, the foremost amongst them, having gotten ejected after a run-in with Brooks.
Bron had just one request for his teammates: ‘Do your job’
Prior to the loss to Houston, the Lakers had just finished a double overtime thriller against a stumbling Warriors. Following it was the disappointing loss to the Rockets and then another one to the Hawks. The fact that they were on a six-game road trip didn’t help better the tempers either.
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And James did not hide his irritation when reporters asked if he had anything to say to his teammates after the 138-122 loss to Atlanta. “I don’t have any message for my teammates. ‘Just go out and do your job.” And finally, we have a familiar foe for the Purple & Gold.
When the Lakers walked in confident in their abilities against Denver, but failed miserably
Since getting swept by the eventual champions of 2023 in the Western Conference, Los Angeles could never really find a way to bounce back from the demolishing of Nikola Jokić and Co. Although their season was marked by inconsistencies, LeBron James seemed to have a really good feeling going into the 2023-24 first-round playoff series.
Unsurprisingly, they lost. And the all-time scorer? Oh, he was smooth as he directed a jab at his teammates. “I’ve never played on the championship team and didn’t pay attention to detail. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You have to.”
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Well, the Lakers couldn’t do it, but Minnesota took care of it in their stead. Not comforting, yes. But hey, the Nuggets didn’t at least go on a back-to-back championship run. The Lakers can take comfort in that fact.
So, what do you think? Are there any instances that come to mind where LeBron James lost his cool? Or perhaps you have had incidents in your life where you had to deal with “bad energy”? Do share your stories in the comments.
