Lakers' LeBron James Dismisses Criticism of His Play: 'That Doesn’t Matter'

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James shrugged off criticism directed his way to open the 2022-23 NBA season.

"C’mon, man. I’m turning 38 in almost two months, basically two months," he told reporters Wednesday. "And when you know who you are, to be honest, if you really, truly caring about what people say, that doesn’t matter."

It wasn't that long ago the 18-time All-Star was using the #WashedKing hashtag as a source of motivation. What a difference a year-and-a-half makes.

That doesn't necessarily mean LeBron is wrong. Sooner or later he'd fall victim to the aging curve, and the injuries he has had over the last couple of years pointed to a potential decline.

Granted, fans didn't expect him to be playing like this.

Through nine games, James is averaging 24.3 points, 8.9 rebounds and 7.1 assists. He's continuing to score effectively inside (55.6 percent on two-pointers) but shooting a career-low 21.0 percent from beyond the arc.

One ingredient to the future Hall of Famer's longevity is that he has made sure to save his best basketball for when it matters. If he started slowly out of the gate, then it was only a matter of time before he rounded into form.

The problem for the Lakers is that by the time James is back to his best, it might be too late. Los Angeles has the second-worst record in the Western Conference (2-8). ESPN's Basketball Power Index gives the team a 6.5 percent chance of reaching the playoffs, which mirrors FiveThirtyEight's outlook (6 percent).

James' aloof response is understandable because he's one of the NBA's greatest ever players and deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his performance. But it also belies the very real danger his team finds itself in already.