LeBron James decided to answer questions about the Cavaliers’ loss elsewhere on Sunday night, as he skipped the podium presser after Game 2.
Apparently The King doesn’t have the time to be doing those pesky podium press conferences, as LeBron James didn’t participate following the Cleveland Cavaliers’ loss in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
The Golden State Warriors handed the Cavs a bad loss to take a 2-0 lead in the series, as they head back to Cleveland riding a 132-113 win in another shellacking in the Oracle Arena.
LeBron, despite his best efforts and another triple-double, couldn’t lead his team to a win on the road, and apparently didn’t want to be answering any questions at the podium after the game. LeBron did his press time in front of his locker instead, and the reasoning was apparently The King not liking the wait time to get to the podium for these press conferences.
He's had to wait to talk at podium a few times recently and he's decided he's done with it for now.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) June 5, 2017
Even while he was answering questions at his locker, you could sense the tension that The King had towards the reporters trying to get his thoughts about the game and the series as a whole, especially when he ripped into this question.
LeBron is taking questions, but he does not have much patience for this one pic.twitter.com/QfUObUZWM6
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) June 5, 2017
No matter the reasoning for the questionable move, Twitter was not happy with LeBron for ditching the presser, and seemingly letting his emotions get the best of him. Most players, especially stars of their respective teams, go to the podium regardless of the circumstances, and LeBron taking matters into his own hands didn’t go over well with social media.
NBA doesn't have LeBron on the postgame podium list. Typo or uh-oh?
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) June 5, 2017
Lebron not coming to the podium? Salty??? #nbafinals
— Eddie Williams (@RealEWilliams) June 5, 2017
— Blue Man Hoop (@BlueManHoop) June 5, 2017
LeBron fed up. RT @Rachel__Nichols: NBA just announced that LeBron James is not coming to the podium post-game.
— Niko Clemmons (@NBCNiko) June 5, 2017
Those criticizing LeBron for skipping talking to media after a loss, he did speak to media, just didn't go to podium. https://t.co/wPwQ6EmyKb
— Nick Gryniewicz (@GetNickG) June 5, 2017
Classic. LeBron skips the podium, goes locker room scrum, gets done in half the time, mic drops a stupid question to end it.
— Josh Newman (@Joshua_Newman) June 5, 2017
In the loss, LeBron put up 29 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds, and it still wasn’t enough to get his team the win. An apparent no-show on the court before LeBron’s off of it was from Kyrie Irving, who struggled to get anything going as he scored 19 points on an 8-for-23 night from the field. Who knows if Irving’s poor performance played a role, or if it was something else?
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Regardless, LeBron got some serious flack for his move to skip the podium, and we’ll see if this becomes a trend for the rest of the series. For now, Twitter can have their fun at The King’s expense.