Sports personality Skip Bayless has long been branded a LeBron James hater, and, according to his critics, he has always found ways to lambast the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
But in recent months, Bayless has started to believe in James’ Los Angeles Lakers while softening his stance on the four-time MVP.
The Lakers, of course, turned what was becoming another dismal season into a magic carpet ride that took them to the Western Conference finals by virtue of several midseason trades. This summer, they have had an excellent free agency period and look to have an even stronger team going into the 2023-24 campaign.
The biggest move Los Angeles made this summer is re-signing rising star Austin Reaves to a four-year contract worth nearly $54 million. It is a much smaller contract than many expected would be required to keep him, and it could turn out to be a bargain.
As a result, Bayless believes James has a very good chance of winning his fifth NBA championship.
The biggest reason LeBron James has a chance to win his 5th ring is the fact that the Lakers locked down Austin Reaves.pic.twitter.com/WTyyxp54ND
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) July 11, 2023
“The biggest reason you could make a case that the Lakers won free agency — the biggest reason LeBron James has a very good chance of winning his fifth ring — in all my time of watching and studying the National Basketball Association, I have never, ever seen a player improve so much from college basketball to pro basketball — never, ever — the way Austin Reaves has right before our very wide open eyes. The Lakers just stole him back in free agency. He deserved twice what they paid him.”
Reaves was a restricted free agent, which meant L.A. had the right to match whatever offer he received from another team. It was expected that a team such as the Houston Rockets or San Antonio Spurs would offer the undrafted guard as much as $100 million, which would’ve complicated the math of the Lakers keeping him in the fold.
But the Lakers made it clear that they would match any offer made to him, and he apparently never received any offers from other teams.
Bayless also said he can see Reaves making an All-Star team within the next three seasons and that the rest of the league is “laughably and sadly underestimating” the Arkansas native.
If Reaves ends up making another big leap this season, the rest of the league will pay the price for underestimating him.
