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🏀 LeBron Calls Out Lakers

🏀 LeBron Calls Out Lakers

January 09, 2023

What is up BTP family? Hope you all had a fun and safe first weekend of the new year! After a crazy NFL Sunday the playoff picture is finally set. Next Saturday we have Seahawks against 49ers and Chargers against Jaguars. Sunday we have Dolphins vs Bills, Giants vs Vikings, and Ravens vs Bengals. Then finally on Monday we have a rematch from opening night of the regular season as the Cowboys go into Tampa Bay to play Tom Brady and the Bucs. Grab your popcorn because wildcard weekend is going to be a fun one!

Today, we break down why LeBron James called out the Los Angeles Lakers, the Jaguars incredible turnaround in their journey from worst to first in just one year, and a wild story about how Matt Barnes stopped an NBA player & coach from beating up Skip Bayless. You are not going to want to miss this!

Let's have a great week!

THE KING'S FRUSTRATION

LeBron James Calls Out the Los Angeles Lakers

Don’t look now but the Los Angeles Lakers are the hottest team in the NBA. The Lakers are currently on a 5-game winning streak because of some very impressive performances from LeBron James. During this win streak LeBron has played in 4 of those games and has averaged 38.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 8.0 assists. Some seriously unreal numbers from LeBron since his 38th birthday. However, this 5-game winning streak has only propelled the Lakers into 11th place in the West sitting on a record of 19-21 on the season. Even with LeBron carrying the Lakers during this stretch, he is still extremely frustrated with the Lakers front office.

Why is LeBron so upset? LeBron spoke with The Athletic following their 136-134 win over the Kings on Saturday and expressed his frustration about the lack of movement on the trade front. "Y'all know what the f--- should be happening," James said. "I don't need to talk." He truly believes the Lakers could make some serious noise this year. Although if they want to do so, they are going to have to flip their two remaining first round picks in 2027 & 2029 to get LeBron some help.

After a previous 5-game losing streak in late December, LeBron questioned how long he could keep playing in a scenario like the Lakers. James said, "I'm a winner and I want to win. I want to win and give myself a chance to win, and still compete for championships. Playing basketball at this level just to be playing basketball is not in my DNA. It's not in my DNA anymore. We'll see what happens and see how fresh my mind stays over the next couple years."

Even after a 5-game winning streak the Lakers are currently still out of the play-in tournament. Anthony Davis has not been able to stay on the floor. Furthermore, the Lakers front office is questioning if there are even any players they can acquire in order to propel them into the playoffs. With LeBron upset at the Lakers, these next few weeks leading up to the trade deadline are going to be fun to watch unfold.

WORST TO FIRST

How The Jaguars Made an Incredible One Year Turnaround

The Jacksonville Jaguars are back in the playoffs! It turns out all it took was a little addition by subtraction. The Jags ran back nearly the same team as last year’s 3-14 disaster, but this time around, they finished with a 9-8 record and a spot in the playoffs. The biggest difference? No Urban Meyer.

What happened with Meyer?: For as successful as Urban Meyer has been as a college coach, he was an unmitigated disaster in the NFL. Not only did he fail as a coach, winning just two games with a generational quarterback talent in Trevor Lawrence, but Meyer was a monster behind the scenes. He embarrassed himself and the team when a video went viral of him getting grinded on by a woman who was not his wife, but even worse was how he treated the team. Meyer was accused of yelling at and bullying his players and coaches and reportedly even kicked a player.

There were a lot of rumblings coming into this season that Meyer was so bad that he had done irreparable damage to this team and their franchise quarterback, but the players never bought into this narrative. When asked if the Jags were broken after Meyer, wide receiver Marvin Jones dropped the mic with an all-time quote. He said: "I think one person was broken. It wasn't us.”

Jones is spot-on. Not to minimize what Doug Peterson brought to the team, the free agent acquisition of Christian Kirk, the return of Travis Etienne from injury, or the addition of the first overall pick, Travon Walker, but the most significant change has been getting Meyer the hell out of Duval.

CONTROVERSIAL OPINIONS

The Time Matt Barnes Stopped an NBA Player & Coach From Beating Up Skip Bayless

Matt Barnes has seen a lot across his 14 years in the NBA, but it turns out, life in sports media might be even wilder. Recently, Barnes revealed to the New York Post that on two separate occasions, he had to stop an NBA player and an NBA coach from beating up Skip Bayless.

Barnes said: “I know personally, personally that I’ve had to diffuse two situations. One with a coach, and one with an NBA player. They wanted to f— Skip up. Personally, I’ve had to do it. One was this year, one was last year… Luckily, cooler heads prevailed, but it’s just gone too far in my opinion.”

If you’re new to the world of sports talk shows, Skip Bayless is essentially playing the role of a WWE-type villain, except unlike wrestling, no one knows if it’s fake. His takes are always controversial and over-the-top, and he stands by them with unwavering commitment.

Bayless’s ability to anger his audience took on a new life last week when he pissed off the entire country when he sent an incendiary tweet after Bills’ safety, Damar Hamlin’s catastrophic injury, which nearly took his life. Despite criticism from everyone, including his co-host and other members of the Fox Sports team, Skip has refused to delete the tweet or offer a genuine apology. Violence is never the answer, but when a person with such a platform continuously acts and behaves in such heinous ways, it’s surprising Barnes has only had to stop two people from throwing hands.