LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers lost at the buzzer 121-119 Thursday night against the Chicago Bulls on the road. Former No. 6 pick in the draft out of Australia Josh Giddey hit a half-court game-winner with all zeros on the clock after an Austin Reaves go-ahead layup.
James contributed 17 points, 12 assists, and five rebounds in the unfortunate loss just a day after hitting his own game-winner against the Indiana Pacers. That said, he also made a critical mistake.
After being up five points with just 12 seconds remaining, James allowed Bulls forward Patrick Williams to hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to two. The 21-time All-Star then committed an immediate turnover off the inbound, which led to a go-ahead three-pointer for Bulls guard Coby White with six seconds left.
After the devastating blunder, James took to X to respond to a criticizing tweet made by his friend. Assigning blame to himself, James took responsibility while assuring such a mistake would not happen again.
"Yeah that one [was] on me for sure!! [That] won't happen again," said James. "My bad for fkn your 8 hours of sleep up."
Yeah that one on me for sure!! Won't happen again
My bad for fkn your 8 hrs of sleep up
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 28, 2025
Since returning from his seven-game absence due to a groin strain, James has averaged 17.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game on 42.4% shooting in four appearances (via StatMuse). While it is a small sample size, all of these numbers are lower than his averages for the season; in 62 games the four-time MVP is averaging 24.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 8.5 assists on 51.2% shooting.
The Lakers' next contest is on Saturday night as they face the team they are tied with for fourth in the Western Conference standings, the Memphis Grizzlies. Memphis fired head coach Taylor Jenkins on Friday morning, and the game on Saturday will be the first as interim head coach for Tuomas Iisalo.
Related: Grizzlies Make New Move After Head Coach Gets Fired
Related: JJ Redick Sends Clear Message After Lakers' Loss to Bulls
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This story was originally published March 28, 2025 at 4:54 PM.