NBA legend Michael Cooper has made his opinion clear on Isiah Thomas’ criticism of LA Lakers player LeBron James.
The Detroit Pistons legend recently called out LeBron James for warming up ahead of an NBA game shirtless.
His criticism drew a lot of comments from analysts including Stephen A. Smith, who gave their views on the issue. Others like Skip Bayless backed Isiah Thomas’ comments.
Even James himself made a subtle response to Thomas’ comment, but never directly addressed the topic.
A few weeks after the incident, former LA Lakers star Michael Cooper has also chimed in with his response, and is supportive of the four-time NBA champion.
James came out to practice without a shirt in the Lakers’ blowout 140-109 win against the Houston Rockets.
Cooper revealed he had no problem with what James had done and spoke in support of him on his appearance on ‘NBA History and Storytellers on CLNS.’
“I hear what Isiah is saying and he said what he said, I didn’t see it so I don’t know how it’s supposed to have looked bad, I don’t know. I think if I were LeBron, I worked on my body, I’d want everybody to see it too.
“My muscles at 40-years-old looking like that, I’d want everybody to see it,” said Cooper.
The debate also went into the way NBA coaches were dressing, which these days is a lot more casual than it used to be.
However, Cooper was also not against the idea of coaches dressing casually.
He said: “I’m gonna come to the defense of the coaches, the casualness of dress started back in Covid when they broke everything down.
“I am a fan of casualness. As long as they good when they are there on the side, all teams are wearing the same thing, it’d be different if five people are wearing this… the dress code doesn’t bother me right now.”
Thomas criticising James is one of the many talking points revolving around to the 40-year-old this year.
There was also an incident where James walked up on Stephen A. Smith to address something the ESPN analyst said about his son.
Despite being a four-time NBA champion and achieved everything there is in the game, James continues to be the headline maker.
While he does attract limelight off the court, not a lot of slander can be given to his on the court performances for a player in Year 22.
His Lakers team are tied 1-1 in a first round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
With Luka Doncic on his team, James finally has a second option who can carry the load of the offense which is why it will be interesting to see how he performs in this postseason.
