Skip Bayless disses Luka Doncic after 45-point game while praising LeBron James

Skip Bayless has seemingly made a living over the years by criticizing LeBron James and perhaps even throwing shade at the living legend. But more recently, it seems as if he has softened his stance a bit on the Los Angeles Lakers superstar.

James missed the Lakers' last three games due to a groin strain, and his absence has put a huge strain on the team. It has lost four games in a row, even though Luka Doncic exploded for 45 points on Thursday versus the Milwaukee Bucks.

Bayless argued in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) that Doncic's 45 points versus Milwaukee were "empty calories" while actually praising James and how valuable he is to Los Angeles (h/t Lakers Daily).

“Tonight’s Laker game at Milwaukee on national TV was exactly why Nico Harrison and the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic and why I was good with it,” Bayless said. “Now, obviously, in Dallas, as soon as Anthony Davis got there, he got hurt, and everybody including Kyrie [Irving] got hurt, so we gotta wait until next year to grade the trade.
“But tonight at Milwaukee was yet another testament to just how great LeBron James is playing at age 40 in year 22. Never seen anything like it. League’s never seen anything like it. We’ll never see anything like it again, at least as long as I live, maybe as long as you live.
“Tonight at Milwaukee, Luka Doncic scored 45 points. He had 29 by halftime. He had a hot streak from 3 in the first half in which he scored 10 straight points, and he wound up making five out of nine 3s in the first half, and then he went cold for a stretch, and most of his points felt like empty calories.
“Most of his points had little to no impact on the scoreboard, and tonight at Milwaukee on national TV, we saw how much Luka Doncic is missing LeBron bleeping James.
“… It has become the ultimate basketball joy for me to watch these two combine their genius on the basketball floor. … I got hooked on it because it was like watching two Magic Johnsons on the floor. Now, without LeBron, Luka’s like half a Magic.”

Without James, Doncic has had to do a whole lot by himself in terms of not only generating offense for himself but also creating good looks for others. Against Milwaukee, he shot 14-of-27 overall and 7-of-13 from 3-point range, but he had just three assists, and as a team, the Lakers had just 18 assists in their 126-106 defeat.

Still, Doncic has had a major impact on the Purple and Gold. Shortly after his debut with them, they went on an eight-game winning streak, and they rose to second place in the Western Conference until just a few days ago.

There is no doubt that James is still playing at the level he has always been at, even at age 40. He's averaging 25.0 points, 8.5 assists and 8.2 rebounds a game while shooting 51.7% from the field and 38.4% from 3-point range this season. Doncic's arrival has taken lots of pressure off of him while allowing him to expend less energy to put up his usual numbers. He has even been playing more defense than he has in recent years, which earned him some praise from head coach JJ Redick.

James is expected to miss at least a week or two due to his groin injury, although he is reportedly progressing well. He suffered the ailment last Saturday, March 8, in a loss to the Boston Celtics.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Skip Bayless disses Luka Doncic after 45-point game, praises LeBron

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Skip Bayless disses Luka Doncic after 45-point game while praising LeBron James

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