“He’s Cheating Himself”: Byron Scott Calls Out LeBron James After Sixers Star Admits Fearing Injury While Dunking

Fans were quick to say "Father Time undefeated" when Pacers forward Jalen Slawson chased down LeBron James and blocked his breakaway layup on Oct. 28. Instead of brushing it off, James explained that he picked the layup over a dunk to avoid an injury.

Former Lakers guard Byron Scott has now taken issue with that reasoning.

"I guess going to the basket and doing all the dunks that he did all these years, dunking on people all these years, at his age now, he's thinking about maybe taking it easy or playing? I just don't see that. I don't see that. I don't see that in guys," Scott said on the Byron Scott Fast Break. When the host asked whether that was cheating the game, Scott answered, "No, I think it's cheating itself. I just don't see that from a guy, as great as he is, saying, 'You know, I got to take it easy when I'm going to—..."

Scott said his view comes from how he learned the game.

"Basketball has never, to me, been about going out there and thinking. It's all about reacting. … It's a reaction sport. When you play the game of basketball, somebody takes this way, you do this. You don't think about what you do. You just do it," he said. "I've never heard one person in my entire life, in my 40-plus years of being involved in the NBA, say that they thought about and made a business decision when they got a wide-open breakaway."

James said exactly that on his "Mind the Game" podcast with Steve Nash.

"If I go up and try to dunk this ball and this kid f**ks me up… I'm out two to four weeks, there's no question," he said.

James finished the game with 13 points, five rebounds and 10 assists in 33 minutes, and is averaging 16.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.5 steals this season. At 41, he is playing in his 24th NBA season.

James knew Slawson was "hauling ass" to get back, so he settled for a layup instead of a dunk that could have led to a painful collision. Some fans took the sequence as another sign of declining athleticism, but James framed it as weighing a highlight against a possible injury.

The Sixers have a roster that depends on his availability, which gives the cautious approach added weight.

Both sides meet in one question. Scott believes a great player shouldn't hesitate, and James says hesitating is how a 41-year-old stays on the court. The layup was blocked either way, and the 76ers got the win. If James stays healthy through the long season, his case will look stronger.