Top 5 players who have publicly criticized LeBron James

#3 CJ McCollum

During the recent play-in tournament match between LeBron James’ LA Lakers and Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors, James hit a clutch three to finish the game for his team. Minutes ago, he was fouled by Draymond Green and the star later claimed that he was suffering from double-vision, and aimed at the “middle basket” out of the three he could see.

However, as James sat on the sidelines nursing his injury, Portland Trail Blazers’ CJ McCollum tweeted the following,

Actor of the year 🤣

— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) May 20, 2021

Bron ain’t slick he wanted to rest for them free throws 😂

— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) May 20, 2021

McCollum later claimed that LeBron simply wanted to be rested for his free throws, and was acting to be injured. Whatever the truth, it was one of the rare occasions when an active player criticized him on social media.

#2 Paul Pierce

Paul Pierce had his best years playing for the Boston Celtics, back when LeBron James had only arrived in the NBA. Regardless, the hype surrounding him made quite a few players feel “disrespected,” which in Pierce’s case came out in an unfortunate way.

"I'm glad social media wasn't out then because I spit at they bench. I probably would've got fined." @paulpierce34 confirms @KendrickPerkins' story that him spitting toward the Cavs bench started his beef with LeBron. pic.twitter.com/k1DbLKhcQq

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 22, 2020

During a preseason game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Pierce spat at the Cleveland Cavaliers’ bench, reportedly getting LeBron in particular. Paul Pierce’s former teammate Kendrick Perkins claimed that it was a result of a personal “beef” between thee two, although Pierce himself later claimed that it meant nothing, and the pair have since made up.

"You know the crazy thing about it was, it was a preseason game, that didn't mean anything," Pierce said. "I don't know, me and LeBron going back and forth, the bench is yelling at something. And I look over at the bench, and I'm like, 'That's why y'all are on the bench' or something, and I spit at them. And I'm not sure I hit somebody or not, but I spit in that direction. And then it just kind of — tempers flared up, the next thing you know, we was in the hallway, it was about to go down. That's just kind of, like, the basis of everything."

#1 Shaquille O’Neal

After recently criticizing the NBA on Twitter for its jam-packed schedule due to the Coronavirus crisis and the resulting injuries that virtually every NBA team suffered this season, Shaquille O’Neal claimed the following about LeBron James’ comments.

“When you’re living in a world where 40 million people have been laid off and I’m making $200 million, you won’t get no complaining from me,” the former Los Angeles Lakers star and TNT broadcaster said. I’d play back to back to back to back to back. I’m not knocking what anybody said, but me personally, I don’t complain and make excuses, because real people are working their tail off and all we gotta do is train two hours a day and then play a game for two hours at night and make a lot of money. … So my thought process is a little different.”

LeBron James was recently criticized by Shaquille O'Neal

The former Lakers legend thought James was paid enough not to have to complain about having to play continuously. Regardless, the criticism is not just sourced from LeBron James, with a number of coaches also stating that fatigue-related injuries were taking a toll on their rosters.