After missing the first 14 games of this season due to sciatica, LeBron James has looked more like his usual self over the last few weeks. In his last seven games, he has averaged 25.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and six assists a contest while shooting 53.3% from the field and 35.3% from 3-point range.
But his performance on Christmas Day in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 119-96 loss to the Houston Rockets left something to be desired. He took a modest 13 shot attempts, making seven of them, and ended up with 18 points and five assists. He didn’t assert himself that much, and according to one ESPN personality, his body language was poor.
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Kendrick Perkins said that James’ body language was “awful,” and he seemed to suggest that the superstar needs to be traded.
“When he’s not engaged or he feels some type of way, it speaks in his body language. Last night his body language was awful. He was not engaged, he was pouting, he was moping, he was walking up and down the damn floor, he was complaining.
“LeBron and the Lakers — their relationship has run its course, and they need to figure out a solution and the solution is not him being in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform. … He knows that this roster is not built. … He knows that this roster don’t have enough.”
James does have somewhat of a history of displaying poor body language when things haven’t gone well for his team. Right now, things aren’t exactly going well for the Lakers.
After starting the season 15-4, they have lost six of their last 10 games, and their lackluster defense is being exposed by the rest of the league. Following Thursday’s loss, coach JJ Redick publicly called out the lack of effort and execution by his players and accused them of not caring enough.
Even worse, Austin Reaves, who has arguably been playing at a borderline superstar level this season, will now be out for at least four weeks due to a Grade 2 gastrocnemius strain. He recently missed three games due to a left calf strain, and he didn’t play in the second half of Thursday’s game after experiencing soreness in that same left calf.
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This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Kendrick Perkins says Lakers should make bold LeBron James move