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“That’s Not True, Don’t Lie”: Billionaire LeBron James Faces Criticism After His Injury Update Rattled the NBA World

Published 03/25/2023, 6:00 AM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

The Los Angeles Lakers fans continue to ache for the return of star LeBron James at this crucial stage of the season. Though the team has put on a great show led by Anthony Davis, James’ absence is always felt by the fans. After a few fake reports on the 4x NBA champions’ revaluation and return, LeBron James took to Twitter to share a first-hand update on his injury. However, some people do not seem to approve of a part of the Lakers forward’s injury update.

Though the injury update did not make the fans feel any better, they await his return to the team ahead of the playoffs. James last played on February 26 against the Dallas Mavericks. After James’ update, an NBA analyst didn’t hold back on The King, as he called out the 19x NBA All-Star.

Stephen. A. Smith did not hold back on LeBron James

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 A few days after injuring his hand in the All-Star game back in February, James twisted his ankle during a game against the Dallas Mavericks. Though the 4x MVP continued to play the rest of the game, the Los Angeles Lakers revealed James will sit out for at least three weeks, which sent a shiver down the spine of the Laker fans. 

However, even before the revaluation mark, several updates on the Lakers star’s injury continued to drop in, creating hope among the fans. Anyhow, the scoring leader made sure the fans knew about what was happening.

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On the show ‘First Take’, hosted by Stephen. A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins, the former mentioned, “I appreciate LeBron’s candor. I definitely applaud him for it. LeBron, it’s not like you always speak for yourself though. That’s not true. Don’t lie. There’s plenty of people who speak for you. Kendrick Perkins and I hear from them constantly. I just want to throw that out there,” leaving a message for the Lakers star.

As James called out the fake reports and the sources, Stephen A had to set the record straight. James’ “I speak for myself” certainly didn;t sit well with the 55-year-old.

The King called out the fake reports

Using Twitter as usual, LeBron James tweeted, “There wasn’t an evaluation today and there hasn’t been any target date for my return. I’m just working around the clock, every day(3X a day) to give myself to best chance of coming back full strength whenever that is.” 

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James further added, “God bless y’all sources. I speak for myself” throwing shade at the people responsible for the false reports. Even after giving an honest update on his injury, James faced criticism from certain sections of fans and Stephen A. Smith. However, it doesn’t look like James is going to return during the regular season.

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Watch this story: “All the father-son duos LeBron James has played against in the NBA”

As the Lakers continue their show without James, fans await his return to the team. What are your thoughts on Smith’s take? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by:

Rohan Dharmalingam

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Rohan Dharmalingam is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. Rohan has been following the NBA for eight years now, after the sorcery of Stephen Curry from beyond the arc made him fall in love with the sport. He likes delving deeper into the nitty-gritty of the league by following the analyses of NBA commentators like JJ Reddick and Shams Charania.
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Edited by:

Pragya Vashisth