Just in case you needed more evidence that Skip Bayless throws takes at the wall to see which ones get a big reaction, he did it again this week about LeBron James’ ankle injury.
Days after accusing LeBron of lying about his ankle injury, Bayless now claims the Lakers star is seriously hurt and may ultimately need surgery. After LeBron sustained an ankle injury on Sunday, Bayless demanded answers on Undisputed, claiming he believes the NBA superstar’s agent Rich Paul was sending mixed messages to create media narratives.
“What exactly is his injury, Mr. Sharpe?” Bayless asked his co-host Shannon Sharpe. “You’re close, you’re in the inner circle. I need to know what the injury is. They won’t even say what the injury is. It’s another mysterious LeBron injury.”
Sharpe cited reports from Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania, stating LeBron could miss significant time and proceeded to blast Bayless for accusing the NBA star of lying about an injury based on the fact that details were limited.
“Where do you think those reports came from?” Bayless asked. “It comes from Rich Paul! Let’s be honest. Let’s do full disclosure. Let’s be transparent. It comes from Rich Paul. He sets every one of these narratives.”
But Friday morning, after checking in with his own sources, Bayless was finally ready to believe that LeBron is injured and even went so far as to claim surgery may be next.
“Are you calling me a liar?!” Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless get heated over the legitimacy of LeBron’s ankle injury pic.twitter.com/kDN7XO8X1G
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 3, 2023
“So are you concluding now, different than you are Monday, that LeBron James is actually hurt?” Sharpe asked. “You said he wasn’t hurt.”
“I did not,” Bayless retorted.
“You called him a liar,” Sharpe said. “Yes, you did!”
“That’s a lie,” Bayless said, attempting to turn the ‘liar’ accusation back on Sharpe. “I’m trying to verify what you’re saying and you’re gonna turn around on me?”
“Are you calling me a liar?” Bayless pressed Sharpe. “Are you calling me a liar?!”
Bayless didn’t directly state LeBron was lying about an ankle injury that put him in a walking boot and will require him to miss at least three weeks during the Lakers’ playoff push. But he did question the injury, calling it “mysterious” while also claiming Rich Paul was just feeding narratives about LeBron to the media.
For Bayless to now report that not only is the injury legitimate, but it may require surgery just days later seems deserving of an apology. But Bayless doesn’t do that.
It only took Skip and Shannon two months since their last on-air bout to have another blow-up, this after Sharpe went on a media tour claiming their working relationship is strong. But now they’re back to trading jabs by throwing “liar” accusations at each other.
