"Lifeless & heartless effort" - Skip Bayless calls out LeBron James for using 'fatigue' as excuse in loss against Bulls

Skip Bayless of "Undisputed" called out LeBron James for blaming fatigue in the LA Lakers' 124-108 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. The Lakers dropped their third consecutive game and their fourth in five games since winning the In-Season Tournament.

The Lakers had decent offense from James, who dropped 25 points, Austin Reaves (21) and Taurean Prince (16). Anthony Davis also had a good night, chipping in 19 points and 14 rebounds.

It was on the defensive end where they faltered, allowing the Bulls to shoot 52.9% from 3-point range while the Lakers were held to a dismal 32.4% from the arc. LA also got outrebounded, especially on the defensive end.

"That was a lifeless and heartless effort on defense last night against a mediocre basketball team," Bayless said. "The Bulls are 12-17, they are a poor shooting team and you just wave at them. They had so many wide-open 3s.

"After that loss last night, LeBron sat in his locker, and he kept using the word fatigue. Emotional fatigue, physical fatigue, road fatigue, In-Season Tournament fatigue, grind of the season fatigue,"

The Chicago Bulls had eight players in double figures, led by veteran guard DeMar DeRozan with 27 points. Alex Caruso was also on point with 15 points and six rebounds.

LA Lakers looking for the best way forward

The 16-point loss to the less-touted Chicago Bulls (12-17) has left the Lakers (15-13) just two games above .500. To make matters worse, LA has nothing to blame their woes on as all their best players are healthy.

The coaching staff may be looking to make changes. Lakers coach Darvin Ham, who has been subject to much criticism, was asked about making changes to the starting lineup.

"It's always an option to do that," Ham said. "You've gotta really look at your group and see what makes the most sense. On the other hand, with different bodies coming in and out of the lineup, you have to have some sort of consistency with something."

The Lakers' supporting cast of D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura didn't provide a lot of help in the loss, combining to net only three shots on 15 attempts.

It was the first time Russell had scored two or fewer points while playing at least 20 minutes since 2017. Ham could look at benching him and starting Gabe Vincent who is coming back from injury.