Renowned American commentator Chris Broussard feels LeBron James was not able to have any impact on the game after the Lakers lost their opening match of the season against Golden State Warriors by 123-109 on Wednesday.
James scored 31 points, 14 rebounds, and eight assists but Broussard believes the veteran was nowhere when the game was in the balance as the Dubs had a seven-point lead. The two teams fought neck to neck in the first half but the home team took the third quarter by 32-19 to stamp their authority on the match.
Broussard claimed that LeBron James is no longer a top 10 player in the world.
Chris Broussard said on the Odd Couple podcast, “LeBron had 31 [points], 14 [rebounds] and 8 [assists] and had zero impact on the game! I wanna watch a few weeks of these before I declare LeBron’s no longer a top 10 player in the league. Last night, he didn’t look like a top-10 player to me. When the game was in the balance, he was nowhere.”
He added: “He was pacing himself, he wasn’t doing much at times ‘cause of his age. And obviously, he’s not defending as he once did.”
On the other hand, Russell Westbrook didn’t have a great run in the previous season. Westbrook scored 19 points against GSW on Wednesday. However, Broussard reckons LeBron James and Westbrook’s numbers can’t be compared.
“He’s gonna break Kareem’s record and that’s gonna be awesome. But you can’t look at LeBron’s numbers, just like you couldn’t look at Westbrook’s last year, 18 [points], 7[rebounds], and 7[assists] and say he played well. Anybody who does that, you’re not really watching what’s happening.”
LA Lakers will take on LA Clippers on Friday.