LeBron James says he's a victim of the Lakers' situation

• The Denver Nuggets eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
• This was their second loss to them in as many seasons.
• LeBron James talked about the elimination.

LeBron James Addresses Lakers’ Playoff Elimination

For the second time since LeBron James arrived in Southern California, the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Once again, it happened at the hands of Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.

The Nuggets got the best of Darvin Ham’s team in just five games. The Lakers fired their coach after two years, and they now face some big questions as they enter the offseason.

Nonetheless, it’s not like the series was as lopsided as the final score tells. As a matter of fact, it took two Jamal Murray game-winners to get past them, as James recently recalled.

LeBron James Says He’s A Victim Of Jamal Murray

“It’s that motherf***er Jamal Murray that will send you home and I’m a victim of it,” James said on his ‘Mind the Game’ podcast with JJ Redick. “When he hit two game-winners on us in the series one was a step back going right; other was a step back going left. So what the f**k do you do. And yes, we could have done better defensively, but that’s a different story.”

LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers during game four of the Western Conference First Round Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena on April 27, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

LeBron Is In A Complicated Emotional State

The four-time NBA champion later talked about how much it hurt to lose the series this way. He felt like they were just a couple of lucky bounces away from getting the job done this time:

“I have no idea where I am emotionally right now,” the veteran star admitted. “Feels like s**t if one play here, one play there, could have made a hell of a difference. Emotionally, I feel like we was right there. To steal the game, but also at the same time, we weren’t, and that’s why we lost the series, and s**t hurts.”

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At the end of the day, the Nuggets are the defending champions for a reason, and they were simply the better team. Still, going home with two game-winners should sting this team for years to come.