"They went to the fu—g plus/minus?" - Gilbert Arenas says LeBron critics are working overtime to tear him down as he nears 41

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James continues to defy not only Father Time but his lifelong critics. After starting the season on the injured list with Sciatica, his haters thought that this was the beginning of the end of "King James "'s legendary career.

However, after three games played so far, LeBron has not only proven that he can adjust to any role given him without disrupting the chemistry the team had when he was out, but also execute that role better than anyone and still factor into winning games. Because of that, critics have gone as far as calling out his plus-minus stats just so they can say something bad about his performances. Gilbert Arenas was appalled to hear that.

"They went to the fu—-g plus/minus, man?" asked Arenas. "Listen, we get it. You don't like him. I don't know that we criticize the greats like this. I thought we just looked the other way, like I didn't know if he gave us 10 or 12. That's good. But the fact that he's out there actually contributing and is an actual factor is very different. Didn't even have training camp, and trained for the last month and a half. I couldn't do this at 29, man. F–k, I'm just being honest."

They really called out LeBron for being a "-14"

In his first game back from injury, LeBron showcased a passing clinic and finished with 12 assists in his Year 23 debut. However, his critics argued that the fact that he took only seven shots and scored only 11 points indicated that he is losing his place in the Lakers' hierarchy.

And then when James scored 17 points with eight rebounds and six assists in his second game back, his haters highlighted that he was a -14 in plus-minus, which was the worst on the team in that game.

Against the L.A. Clippers in the Lakers' most recent game, James had his best game of the season so far with 25 points on 9-15 shooting with six rebounds and six assists while being a +18. They pointed out that he had three turnovers, tied for the most on the team in the game and said he's back to his error-prone ways.

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It's no longer easy to criticize LeBron

Arenas said that LeBron's naysayers moving the goal post from points to plus-minus, and then to turnovers in his first three games back, proves the hate refuses to go away. But he added that it's becoming harder and harder to find fault in his game because he is just that good and different from any player we've ever seen.

"We just got to be realistic about how we judging people, even if you don't like somebody," added Arenas. "You've got to be at least some type of fair. It's not easy for them to hate. Think about that hate. That means you see he scored and they won. You start looking for s–t now. That's what I'm saying. It's not easy. You got to (search) and "We got it, plus-minus. Look at it. Why is he on the court?" 

The plus-minus measures by how many points a team outscores its opponent or vice versa when a particular player is on the court. It does not accurately measure a player's ability and is heavily dependent on the teammates they are playing with on the court. Just for comparison's sake, Michael Jordan's plus-minus on the Wizards was a mere +0.15 per game, but no one talks about it because his tenure in D.C. was all about celebrating his greatness. Apparently, that does not apply to LeBron.

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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Nov 28, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.