LeBron James' bold playoff vow could add to superstar's list of recent Twitter whiffs

Gilbert McGregor

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LeBron James' bold playoff vow could add to superstar's list of recent Twitter whiffs image

With the Lakers missing the 2022 NBA Playoffs, LeBron James missed the postseason for just the fourth time in his 19-year career, leaving him to watch the games from the comfort of his home as any fan of the game would do.

When you get LeBron watching live sports, you can count on getting live tweets to accompany them.

While watching Game 3 of the first-round series between the Heat and Hawks, James first commented on the acumen of color analyst JJ Redick before making a bold proclamation for the rest of his career:

"I can/will NOT miss the post season again for my career!" James tweeted. "This s– HURT. Ok back to watching these games."

Lakers fans (and LeBron fans) should be excited right? Well, maybe not.

This isn't the first time LeBron has taken to Twitter to make a claim, but given his recent track record with Twitter proclamations, maybe he shouldn't.

Father Time might not have slowed James down on the floor, but maybe it's impacted his ability to call his shot.

April Fools!

On April 1, James was nursing a sprained ankle and the Lakers, who sat at 31-45, were in serious danger of missing the playoffs. In the midst of the madness, James took to Twitter to take part in the April Fools' Day fun, saying that he was officially out for the season.

Of course, anything said on April 1 should be taken with a grain of salt and it was proven that James was just joking as he played later on that evening. Winning isn't everything and James has accomplished enough for two Hall of Fame careers, but the situation didn't exactly lend itself to an April Fools' Day joke.

The worst part of the "joke"? After sending that tweet, James played the night of and sat for the team's final five games.

So, yeah, maybe you shouldn't joke like that.

The apology

After a 37-point loss to the Nuggets on Jan. 15, LeBron took to Twitter to issue an apology to Lakers fans, vowing that the team would be better.

James was better after sending the tweet, posting averages of 31.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game after Jan. 15 but the Lakers were much, much worse.

When LeBron vowed that they'd improve, the Lakers had a 21-22 record. Their record after the tweet? 12-27. 

"Keep that same narrative ENERGY"

This one was so bad that it's been deleted.

After the Lakers rebuilt their core with James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook and surrounded them with a cast of mostly older veterans, James heard the noise about his team's age.

"Keep talking about my squad, our personnel ages, the way he plays, he stays injured, we're past our time in this league, etc etc etc. Do me one favor PLEASE!!!! And I mean PLEASE!!!" James penned in the deleted tweet, complete with a praying hands emoji.

"Keep that same narrative ENERGY when it begins! That's all I ask. #ThankYou"

Essentially, everything James spoke about in the tweet went wrong during the Lakers' nightmarish season. Westbrook's playing style made for a complicated fit and a terse locker room, Davis missed 42 games due to injury and too much responsibility was levied upon LA's older players, resulting in a 33-49 finish to the season.

So, about that playoff vow…

James being of the NBA's most active Twitter users isn't a bad thing, but his recent track record of vows and promises hasn't gone great. 

With the number of questions looming around the Lakers franchise, a return to the playoffs is certainly far from a given.

This time next year, refer back to LeBron's tweet to see if he can improve upon his recent shaky track record.

Gilbert McGregor

Gilbert McGregor Photo

Gilbert McGregor first joined The Sporting News in 2018 as a content producer for Global editions of NBA.com. Before covering the game, McGregor played basketball collegiately at Wake Forest, graduating with a Communication degree in 2016. McGregor began covering the NBA during the 2017-18 season and has been on hand for a number of league events.