Skip Bayless' Latest Attempt to Dunk on LeBron James Was an Air Ball
LeBron James hit the 35,000-point milestone on Wednesday night. He is just the third person to ever do it. Heck of an accomplishment. So of course Skip Bayless fired off some tweets after the game meant to denigrate LeBron.
First he tried... well, it's unclear. He said that it seems like LeBron has played 35,000 games. Is that... bad? He's played the 26th-most games in NBA history and has the third-most points. That seems good. And he has played for a long time, which is also good. Anyway, Richard Deitsch took the opportunity to point out how many viewers Undisputed had on Tuesday and who doesn't love a good ratings burn?
The Skip Bayless-led Undisputed drew 123,000 viewers on Tuesday. https://t.co/qaBAocWx2G
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) February 19, 2021
Not satisfied with his 35k quip, Skip decided to go after LeBron's ability to play basketball. You know, the ability that led to the 35,000 points.
Jordan was His Airness. LeBron has turned into His Air-ball-ness. Seems like every game he shoots an air ball, as he just did vs Nets. Launched two at Minnesota the other night. Recently air-balled a free throw. Good shooters don't completely miss the rim.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) February 19, 2021
This is not the first time that Skip has gone to this air ball well.
Did Michael Jordan EVER air-ball a free throw in his NBA career??? I can't imagine. LeBron sure has. Happened again last night. If he's the Best Player on the Planet, it's Mars.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) March 27, 2019
This is incredibly easy to debunk, as many people did when Skip first tried it in 2019. There is literally an Associated Press headline you can read on the LA Times' website that says, "Jordan Shoots an Air Ball." And this wasn't young Jordan or just back from retirement Jordan or Wizards Jordan. This was March 1997 in the middle of a three-peat during a season the Bulls won 69 games and he led the NBA in scoring.
Although, he did also throw up an air ball when he was on the Wizards. And one time with a young Kobe Bryant guarding him. And, uh, maybe this tough one in the '98 NBA Finals.
But other than that, never.
This air ball thing is so clearly false that Skip is obviously gaslighting people. He does a good job maintaining plausible deniability most of the time, but he just did the same thing two years ago so what other explanation could there be? If good shooters "don't completely miss the rim" then there certainly wouldn't be enough from Stephen Curry to make a compilation.
So, like Steph, LeBron, and MJ, Skip Bayless also misses from time to time. Even if his misses do make those 123,000 people keep coming back for more.