It wasn't at all a close game between the Lakers and the Jazz on Wednesday night, and LeBron James made that clear. On the sideline, he was living his best life — shoes off, dancing on the court, everything, while the Jazz trailed by 20.
The Jazz announcers didn’t take well to this development, saying it was “disrespectful” to the game. LeBron fired back on Instagram.
“Imagine doing your job at the highest level to where you’re not needed anymore, giving your shoes to a lil girl and boy who you inspire and hoped you made proud that night, then cheering on your teammates cause you love seeing them succeed more than yourself only to be criticized while doing it,” he wrote.
“Respect the game” is a time-old adage we’ve heard in sports, although it’s interesting that many athletes are now pushing back on perceived smarminess. There’s nothing wrong with that! Just have fun. And don’t lose by 20. We’ll see if the Jazz come back with anything extra the next time these two teams play.
While we’re on the topic of LeBron pushing boundaries, though, this is definitely an uncalled travel. This... you actually probably shouldn’t be able to get away with.
