Stop me if you've heard this before, but Skip Bayless is not backing down from a hot take about LeBron James.
James hit a key, deep 3-point shot in the last minute against the Warriors that turned out to be the game-winner for the Lakers. Many called the shot, which was launched well beyond the 3-point line with the shot clock winding down in a tie game, clutch and considered it to be a signature moment for James.
However, the shot didn't impress Bayless, who took to Twitter to call James' make "lucky".
Lucky desperate three by LeBron with the pressure off at the end of the shot clock. He's at his best when there's no drive-or-launch decision. He can just heave and hope. If he misses, no expectation, no fault. It's an "impossible" shot. Besides, he "was seeing three rims."
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 20, 2021
C'mon, Skip, can't you just enjoy a great play that finished a well-fought game?
MORE: LeBron's defense, not shot, was most impressive part of play-in win
Of course, Bayless' comments on James' shot didn't sit well with basketball fans. Many took aim at the Fox Sports analyst with some comical tweets poking fun at his tendency to be anti-James with most of his takes.
“lEbRon iSnT cLutCh”🤡 -Skip Bayless pic.twitter.com/Eu1FhPfcu4
— ᕼᗝᗝᗪᎥᗴ 𝙇𝘽𝙅 ➐ (@HoodieLBJ) May 20, 2021
Skip Bayless after Lebron hit the 3s points clutch😂🤣🤡 pic.twitter.com/vWwTFHNbv7
— Matic2006 (@Marvz20061) May 20, 2021
Skip Bayless in his room right now pic.twitter.com/7Ey1RyeMDE
— ᴊᴡ (@JWepp) May 20, 2021
Skip bayless tryna think of a way to discredit Lebron’s game winning 3 pic.twitter.com/MIut3JEcHp
— tobs 🧸 (@tobiadelodun) May 20, 2021
The last tweet of the bunch rang a bit too true, however. On "Undisputed" Thursday morning, Bayless doubled down and argued that while James' shot was "big," it wasn't clutch. He gave it a 1 on a scale of 1-10 because it didn't occur late enough in the game.
There was zero pressure on that shot. There was a minute left on the clock, not nearly late enough for a Jordan-esque shot. Nobody is going to hold LeBron accountable for a miss there. More @Undisputed, now on FS1 https://t.co/c7XyQGgf6L
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 20, 2021
That's certainly a reach, and it seems like Bayless is once again just having a take to have a take.
The fact of the matter is that James nailed a deep, difficult 3 with under a minute left to cap a great, competitive play-in game. Clutch or not, that's an impressive feat, especially for a 36-year-old who has been sidelined by an ankle injury in recent weeks.
Let's just take some time to enjoy James' always-elite on-court performance as he continues to make big plays in his 18th NBA season.
