LeBron James faces backlash over Dodgers decision amid Lakers absence
LeBron James faced backlash from sports pundit Craig Carton over his decision to watch the Los Angeles Dodgers during the World Series while he continues to miss games for the Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron James received flak for watching the Los Angeles Dodgers take on the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2025 World Series as he continues to recover from sciatica.
The 40-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star has not played this season as he continues to work his way back into playing shape. While it is unknown everything that James does during his time away from the court, sports pundit Craig Carton lambasted the star for his actions.
In particular, Carton called out James for watching the World Series in Los Angeles instead of being with his team against the Minnesota Timberwolves. This latest criticism comes after James infuriated fans with a "Decision" sequel, with fans falsely believing the star was announcing his retirement.
"LeBron James is a lousy teammate," Carton began. "LeBron James did not travel to Minnesota to watch the Lakers without him and Luka, you know, beat the Timberwolves, but he had no problem driving down, I don't know what the highway is in L.A., the 405 or something like that, and making sure that he was at a major L.A. sports moment. ...
"Well, LeBron James had no problem going to the Dodger game the night before because he's 'Big Show Bob.' If there's a big event in L.A., he wants to be there." Carton also believes James is a fair-weather fan, choosing his baseball allegiance based on who is successful at the time, such as the New York Yankees, the Cleveland Guardians and now the Dodgers.
The pundit added that he agrees with NBA legend Charles Barkley's claim that the 40-year-old is fit enough to play, but is choosing to hold himself out. "He's choosing not to play ... the reason LeBron James, according to a lot of people with inside information and just my belief, is not playing basketball right now is because his feelings are hurt," Carton continued.
"And now he's in a situation where everyone is acknowledging it's Luka's team now. Luka Doncic is the best player on the Lakers, and based on the five-game start, and they're a game over .500 with last night's win against the T-Wolves, again, no Anthony Edwards either, so kind of a weird game to handicap, right?
"But the reality is that he might not even be their second-best player, the way Austin Reeves is currently playing. Let's give him his flowers. So he's in his feelings right now. Wah! No one's talking about me like they used to talk about me. I'm not the best player on the team anymore. Wah!"
He added: "He has no problem walking up the concourse or through the parking lot with that terrible sciatica, that's killing him, to go watch a Dodger game and sit in an uncomfortable chair, but he can't travel with the team and watch them play a road game against the Timberwolves."
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Carton posits that James expected the Lakers to struggle without him in the lineup, but instead, Los Angeles has thrived — to some degree — with Doncic and Reeves as the main cogs in the offense.
"LeBron James thought with him sitting out, the Lakers would struggle and they'd get off to a really, really bad start," Carton surmised. "Let's just call it 15 games, I don't know, five and 10, that type of thing.
"And that they would beg him to come back and they would plead with him to come back. And the fanbase would be, 'We need LeBron. We need LeBron.' But here's the reality that he didn't count on. Austin Reeves is really, really good."
It remains to be seen when James will return to action, though it is estimated that the 40-year-old will be back in the Lakers' lineup at some point in November.