Even in Year 21, LeBron James gets his bread-and-butter offensively by finding ways to burst into the lane and finish at the rim. While his three-point shooting has improved and increased in volume, James still is one of the most efficient inside scorers in the NBA. He does this despite aggressive defense, as seen in the Lakers’ win over the Blazers.

Scoot Henderson aggressively tried to stop LeBron on a drive, scratching up the 39-year-old and drawing blood. James appealed to the referee for a call, who claimed he saw no foul. This led to James bringing up the issue on social media and calling out the poor decision.

“(Ref) look right at me and said, ‘I didn’t see a foul!’ Man what! I give up, man.”

Credit: @kingjames/Instagram

James ended the night with 28 points and plenty of highlights from a strong outing. Unfortunately, the aura around his team hasn’t been very positive after the visible disappointment on the faces of D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura after the game, with many believing both players are on the verge of being traded.

The Lakers are 4-1 in their last five games, but it seems changes on the roster are inevitable the closer we get to the trade deadline.

One of the major talking points on social media towards the end of the game was how LeBron gestured to the referees for a timeout before promptly subbing himself out of the game. We have seen James have some control over when he checks in and checks out of games, but fans thought Darvin Ham had stopped coaching the team with LeBron making his own decisions.

Naturally, this wasn’t true. What we saw on the screen didn’t lie to us, but James has since revealed in an Instagram comment that he did what he did on Ham’s instruction so that the starters could come out of the game, which the Lakers led by over 20 points at the time.

“No I didn’t. D Ham told me to foul and then call a TO. He was subbing me out. Stop with the BS.”

Credit: @kingjames/Instagram

Ham doesn’t have the same control over the locker room as we saw last season, with his coaching also being integral in the Lakers’ late-season surge into becoming a playoff team. With Jeanie Buss’s support, Ham will likely stay in charge of the team till the end of the season.

LeBron coming out in support of him after fans on the internet have been cruel to the coach in recent months is a sign that there won’t be a coaching change in LA anytime soon. What may change is the personnel on the roster and the looming possibility that is impacting the chemistry in the Lakers’ locker room.

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