LeBron James upset sensitive fans this week while participating in lighthearted April Fools shenanigans on Twitter. The King, as James is known, wrote that he was “out for the season officially” — making a joke that didn’t sit well with many of the Lakers faithful.
I’m out for the season officially. 🤦🏾♂️. See y’all in the fall. 👑✌🏾
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 1, 2022
James seems to have failed to correctly read his audience, something he rarely does with opposing defenses. Lakers fans understandably aren’t in a jocular mood, being distraught at how their season is going just a year removed from an NBA title.
The present-day Lakers are struggling to win games. Indeed, if the NBA playoffs started today, they’d start without James and company. And James himself has missed multiple games due to injury, making his joke plausible and therefore even less tolerable to disappointed fans.
James, one of the greatest players of all time — and certainly the player who has been the greatest for the longest period of time — knows about the ups and downs of the NBA like no other player. He has earned his right to kid around. But the 2021-22 Lakers are no laughing matter for Lakers fans, who reacted bitterly in some cases
Some predictably compared James’s approach to the imagined actions of late legendary Lakers star Kobe Bryant. As one Lakers fan wrote: “Kobe Bean Bryant wouldn’t be posting April Fools jokes on Twitter. The Black Mamba would be in the gym, getting ready to put his team on his back and trying to get his squad in the playoffs…” More than one frustrated fan reacted by saying simply, “C’mon Bro…”
Note: James’s much-missed teammate Anthony Davis returned yesterday from his injury and the Lakers are not eliminated from playoff contention yet. Stay tuned. Here are the current standings. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel reportedly wasn’t upset by the tweet, saying that he would have known it was an “April Fools” trick even if he hadn’t been told
