Stephen Jackson torches LeBron James over hand, Finals: 'He quit, he knew he was beat'

Jason Owens
·Staff writer
Stephen Jackson, who has not shied from hot takes since his playing days, accused LeBron James of making excuses and quitting on his teammates. (Getty)
Stephen Jackson, who has not shied from hot takes since his playing days, accused LeBron James of making excuses and quitting on his teammates. (Getty)

While much of the sports world has moved past the NBA Finals to the summer of LeBron James, Stephen Jackson isn’t quite ready to let go.

The former Golden State Warrior and NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs lit into James Wednesday during an appearance on Fox Sports, taking him to task for quitting during the Finals and making excuses after the Cleveland Cavaliers got swept.

Stephen Jackson: LeBron James was ‘selfish’ when he hurt his hand

Jackson started his diatribe by calling out James for talking about his injured hand after the Cavs got swept and for injuring it in the first place by punching a white board after a brutal Game 1 loss.

“The series is over,” Jackson said. “There’s nothing you can do about it. You can’t go back and start over ’cause your hand hurts. It wasn’t a good decision by the guy you expect to carry your team.

“For him to do that, that was real selfish.”

Jackson: Did James punch his heart against white board?

Jackson went on to criticize James for what he saw a subpar effort in the wake of Game 1’s loss.

“I think his heart was questioned,” Jackson said. “I don’t know if he punched his heart against the white board. Because at times it looked like his heart was hurting. He wasn’t competing, wasn’t giving the same energy we see from LeBron.”

He went on to accuse James of making excuses after getting swept.

“I just think it was too late to come out with,” Jackson said. “The series was over. If you hurt your hand, just say you hurt it. Don’t bring it up to try to make it the topic from getting swept.”

‘Go home, bruh!’

Toward the end of his rant, Jackson came to the conclusion that James just up and quit on his teammates.

“That took a lot out of him,” Jackson said of Game 1. “He quit. He knew he was playing against a better team. After Game 1, he knew he was beat. Point blank, bruh. It had nothing to do with his hand.

“They got swept. 4-0. Take it like a man. Go home, bruh.”

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Jason Owens is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter.