Over the years, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has made a habit of arriving to the arena early on game days and getting shots up without a shirt on. Hours ahead Friday night’s matchup between the Lakers and the Houston Rockets, James was seen doing exactly that. NBA Hall-of-Famer and analyst Isiah Thomas reacted to the clip with a strong stance.
“I just totally, 100% object to this. If I was the GM or the coach, I would never let one of my players walk out on the floor looking like this. We are professional NBA league,” Thomas said. “We ain’t summer league, we ain’t the YMCA. I just think the professionalism in our NBA league has diminished so much.”
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Isiah Thomas rips LeBron for not wearing a shirt during shootaround ????
“I would never let one of my players walk out on the floor looking like this… We ain’t at the YMCA.” pic.twitter.com/yNGxQNeO54
— Underdog (@Underdog) April 12, 2025
While a shirtless pregame shooataround is pretty uncommon in the NBA, James has been doing it for a while and it’s usually long before spectators are allowed to enter the arena.
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James is currently putting up 24.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game this season as the Lakers have found themselves at the 3rd seed in the Western Conference with just two games to go before the playoffs.
James Parker is an NBA writer for Ball Exclusives follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
