The Phoenix Suns defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the first-round of the NBA playoffs. Although LeBron James and Chris Paul entered the match-up as close friends, it’s unclear whether that is still the case.
During the series, Paul engaged in one of the dirtiest plays of the entire NBA season. His victim? James.
If Paul’s antics had gone the wrong way, James’ career could have ended prematurely.
As such, it’s hard to blame the Lakers star if he bears some ill will.
Of course not everyone feels that way.
On Thursday, Fox Sports broadcaster Skip Bayless called James out for being ‘childish’ over his treatment of Paul. In his estimation, James opting to take in a WNBA game on Wednesday instead of supporting Paul’s march to his first career NBA Finals was the ultimate sign of disrespect.
“Am I understanding correctly that LeBron took Dame to the WNBA game being played down the street from Staples at the Convention Center WHILE LEBRON’S CLOSE FRIEND CP3 WAS PLAYING FOR HIS 1ST FINALS? HOW CHILDISH WAS THAT, TRYING TO UPSTAGE CP3/CLIPPERS AT STAPLES? So LeBron,” he tweeted.
Yikes. https://t.co/rP9DViKpei
— Game 7 (@game7__) June 14, 2021
Although Bayless is known to be something of a troll, particularly as it pertains to James, he isn’t the first person to point out the apparent beef that now seems to exist between James and Paul.
Will either party come out and confirm that hostilities exist? It’s impossible to say. You will call recall, it took years for Paul to come out and bluntly speak of how much he dislikes former teammate James Harden.
That said, if James continues to ignore Paul as he plays in his first-ever career NBA Finals, that should settle the “Is there really a beef?” question once and for all.
Related: 1 Team Looking To Steal Chris Paul From Suns In Offseason
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
