The Lakers and LeBron James entered the 2025 NBA playoffs with the fourth-shortest odds to win the championship and the second-shortest odds to win the Western Conference. However, the team suffered a shocking 4-1 first-round series loss to the Timberwolves, ending their pursuit of a championship early.
On his “Mind the Game” podcast, James lashed out at the media for blaming him and Luka Doncic for the Lakers’ collapse, highlighting how his team had many roster issues that became too big to overcome against the Timberwolves.
“I’ve definitely learned over the years that teams win championships — always,” James said. “…It was never just about me and Luka, or Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle. It was always about Minnesota versus the Lakers.
“I’m at a point in my career now where I don’t lose sleep over that. How did me and Luka lose? Well, there’s eight other guys on the floor.”
LeBron James Called ‘A Whiner’
Many fans responded to clips of James’ sound bytes with negative responses.
One fan reasoned that basketball has always been about individual stars carrying their teams, and that James sounded like “a whiner” with his justification.
“Equivalent to: Whenever I take a team to the championship I want all the credit,” wrote the fan. “Whenever my team loses then we all should take the credit.”
The 40-year-old LeBron James owns a $52.7M player option for the 2025-26 season but has yet to decide to return for another year.
Should Lakers Move On From LeBron?
“I haven’t had the conversation with the family yet as far as me going forward or whatever the case may be. But we’ll see what happens.”
Amid the uncertainty, many analysts, including Celtics legend Paul Pierce, have urged the Lakers to “move on” from James.
“If the Lakers want to get back to a championship contender moving forward, you have to get out of the constraints of the LeBron James era,” Pierce said on FS1’s Speak on May 1, via Awful Announcing.
“He’s had a grasp of the whole organization, bear-hugging them, for so long now. He’s done some wonderful things for the Lakers organization. They’re probably gonna build a statue of LeBron. But I’m just saying, they have to say, ‘Bron, we appreciate your services, I think we should move on.’ It’s time for the Luka era now, ’cause I don’t know if you can play them together moving forward. You have to have a certain kind of team around Luka to win. And him with LeBron, you won’t be able to create that.”
Actor and sports personality Michael Rapoport has made a similar argument.
“I think he sucks the joy out of that team,” Rapoport said of James. “It would be in their best interest, unless they’re able to get some other pieces, to let him go or move on from him. T
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