It was a night of bruised egos, missed rebounds, and plenty of drama as the Los Angeles Lakers crumbled to the Detroit Pistons in a head-scratching 115-103 defeat on Monday. For a team that flaunts both King James and Anthony Davis, this loss was, as Skip Bayless bluntly put it, “inexcusable.” And if you thought the man was going to hold back, think again—Skip had plenty to say.
The Lakers’ underwhelming 4-3 record and a sloppy five-game road trip have raised questions. And by questions, I mean Skip Bayless’ scathing Twitter rants. He quickly called out Lakers coach JJ Redick to step up and “light a fire” under his squad. “LeBron’s Lakers just failed to show up,” he tweeted. “Crushed on the boards, 55-37. Pistons: 17 offensive boards. Just inexcusable. Hey, JJ, gotta light a fire under your squad.”
A fire indeed! It was as if the Lakers had mentally checked out before tip-off, watching Detroit out-hustle them on practically every 50-50 ball, as the Pistons gobbled up offensive rebounds like it was Thanksgiving dinner. Even LeBron couldn’t hide the Lakers’ glaring lack of urgency. Down by 20 points, they tried to mount a late-game comeback, but the effort fell flat, with the Purple and Gold slipping to an 0-3 record on this road stretch.
It wasn’t just Skip who voiced his discontent. Coach JJ Redick, ever blunt and dry, echoed similar sentiments post-game, saying he wished his team had opened with “more pride on defense.” A savage remark, one Skip applauded with all the sarcasm in the world. “BOOM. Love that,” he tweeted, implying that maybe the team’s two superstars, LeBron and AD, wouldn’t feel the same way. But hey, maybe that’s the problem.
The Lakers’ bench didn’t exactly do them any favors, scoring a whopping 10 points—yes, you read that right. Jaxson Hayes and Dalton Knecht accounted for all those points, with the rest of the bench apparently watching from the sidelines. Redick, already feeling the weight of the loss, admitted that the locker room was “disappointed.” Skip Bayless, however, might argue that “disappointed” is the mildest word they could have chosen. After all, the Lakers were expected to cruise against a Pistons team that’s still in the early stages of a rebuild. This wasn’t supposed to be a contest, much less a double-digit defeat.
Now, the Lakers have one more shot to salvage this disastrous road trip as they head to Memphis to face the Grizzlies on Wednesday. But after this performance, the fans—and Skip Bayless—might be keeping their expectations in check. One thing’s for sure: if LeBron’s Lakers don’t show up on defense again, we’ll have more entertaining tweets from Skip Bayless to look forward to.
