NBA legend Isiah Thomas torched LeBron James for his pre-game warmup attire, or lack thereof, before a recent contest.
King James, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar, worked out before his contest against the Houston Rockets shirtless and sporting a doo-rag, which greatly irked Thomas to the point where he went on a righteous rant on NBA TV.
Isiah Thomas said professionalism has deteriorated in the NBA
Thomas, who was the brilliant leader of the “Bad Boys” during their two-time championship run with the Detroit Pistons in the late 1980s, said LBJ exemplified flagrant unprofessionalism.
“I just totally, 100 percent object to this,” Thomas said as they watched James practicing his mid-range jumpers in an empty arena. “If I was the GM or coach, I would never let one of my players walk out on the floor looking like this. I mean, we are a professional, NBA league. We ain’t Summer League. We ain’t the YMCA.”
Isiah has been one of LeBron James’ biggest supporters
This stinging criticism runs counter to Thomas’ usual public support of James, whom he believes is the greatest player of all time over Michael Jordan.
“… I just think the professionalism in our NBA league has diminished so much,” Thomas continued. “…. Look, I like LeBron, I’m a fan of his, so forth and so on, but to walk out on the floor before a game, with no shirt on, and shoot, I mean, come on, man? Where we at? What we doing? Where we at?”
Lebron James seemingly responds to the biting criticism
James seemingly alluded to Thomas’ critique of his scarce outfit on Saturday but said that at 40 years old and on the back-nine of his career, he just dismissed the matter altogether.
Instead, James heralded his head coach, first-year leader JJ Redick, who recorded a 50-win season and multiple accolades from sports pundits on his coaching job this year.
LeBron James’ Lakers steamrolled the Houston Rockets
James saw limited action in the Lakers trouncing of the Rockets, 140-109, to lock up the third seed in the Western Conference playoff picture. After 22 minutes of play, James left the game with a reaggravation of his groin, head coach JJ Redick told the media, but said the living legend is fine and will be ready for the postseason.
Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 39 points.
