Daryl Morey appears to fire back at LeBron James over play-in criticism

Now that LeBron James’ team is nearing the play-in zone, he is suddenly not a fan of the league having the tournament. Daryl Morey is one basketball figure who sees the irony there.

James’ Los Angeles Lakers had an embarrassing loss to the shorthanded Toronto Raptors at home on Sunday. The defeat put the defending champs just a tiebreaker over the Portland Trail Blazers away from falling to the No. 7 seed. After the game, the four-time MVP went scorched-earth on the NBA over the play-in.

“Whoever came up with that s— needs to be fired,” James said bluntly, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

Not long after James made his comments, the Philadelphia 76ers GM Morey appeared to respond to the criticism on Twitter.

“I can’t believe the NBA hastily implemented a change that makes games more interesting and meaningful,” wrote Morey. He also included a GIF of The Dude from “The Big Lebowski” for emphasis.

I can't believe the NBA hastily implemented a change that makes games more interesting and meaningful pic.twitter.com/B1y23dJD9s

— Daryl Morey(@dmorey) May 3, 2021

At 43-21, Morey’s Sixers are well above play-in territory. But the tournament has been a divisive topic among other star players besides just James.

Morey and James do also have history with one another. The latter once openly lambasted the former for speaking out in support of Hong Kong. This may be Morey’s way of settling the score a bit.