Lebron James questioned the urgency and mindset of his teammates after the Lakers' hopes of reaching the NBA playoffs were dealt another blow.
Lakers — seeking its first post-season berth in six years — was beaten 128-115 by Pelicans, which rested All-Star Anthony Davis on Saturday.
With the result, Lakers (29-30) dropped three-and-a-half games behind Clippers and Spurs for the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference.
James — who joined Lakers in the offseason and had 27 points and 12 assists in the defeat to Pelicans — has not missed the playoffs since 2004-05, having featured in the past eight NBA Finals.
And the three-time NBA champion was left questioning Lakers, telling reporters post-game: "How many know what's at stake if you've never been there. I'm playing devil's advocate, you know? It's kind of a fine line when you talk about that, because when you've never been there or know what it takes to actually shoot for something like that, sometimes you're afraid to get uncomfortable.
"So you got to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. So I'm not saying that's what we are as a whole. It kind of looks that way at times, that sometimes we're afraid to be uncomfortable and kind of get out of our comfort zone and kind of, you know, have that sense of urgency from the jump, and not be afraid to actually go out and fail to succeed. So, I mean we have, what? Twenty-three games left. We'll see what happens."
James added: "The last few years, everyone's so accustomed to the losses that I'm just not accustomed to. I'm not accustomed to it. I will never get comfortable with losing. So, losing game one to Houston [at home], it feels the same way as losing Game 59 in New Orleans to me. It's just how I'm built. That's who I am."
"I knew it was going to be very challenging," the 34-year-old continued. "Just because of the experience the roster had at that point and time. I knew it was going to be challenging from that sense, but I felt like we could still play better basketball.
"And we were doing that and obviously it sucks that my injury happened and [Lonzo Ball's] injury happened and so many of our injuries happened."
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