The Los Angeles Lakers came up on the losing side of things on Monday (Feb. 26) in a road game against the Memphis Grizzlies. While LeBron James and several teammates put up decent numbers, it wasn't enough to overcome the game that Mike Conley, Jonas Valanciunas, and other Memphis players had. With that, Memphis recorded a 110-105 victory over a Lakers team in desperate need of wins to make a push for a playoff spot. After the game, LeBron posted an interesting Instagram photo and quote which drew a backlash from some fans in the comments.

LeBron posts Instagram photo, fans react

LeBron James is no stranger towards being outspoken whether in traditional media or on social media. He's posted about Zion Williamson's shoe explosion. Bron also got people riled up with an Instagram story quoting 21 Savage rap lyrics. His latest post comes as his team is trying to qualify for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. As of the end of the All-Star break, he told everyone he's activated "playoffs mode" early, but so far, it hasn't resulted in the wins they need.

The Lakers are 1-3 over their past four games. LeBron achieved a triple-double in Monday's loss with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists. However, the "W" would be better received by the Los Angeles Lakers fans.

King James continues to add to his impressive NBA stats, though, and that was the subject of his newest Instagram post. After the Lakers' loss, the post (below) went on his account which shows off how he's the only player in NBA history to rank in two top 10 categories: points and assists. It's impressive, but some fans weren't having it.

A number of comments on the Instagram post below tell the story.

James also captioned the photo with a quote from hip-hop star J-Cole: "Even when the dark is out, the sun is shining somewhere." That comes from Cole's "Premeditated Murder" track and seems to fit with the theme that LeBron is still doing LeBron things even as his Lakers team struggles.

That image above brought a lot of "Likes," with over 1.1 million, and some positive comments. However, there is a fair share of negative comments as well. Several commenters called out James for his lack of defense, and how the team has a subpar record now. After all, they lost to a Memphis Grizzlies team in worse shape than them. Mike Conley was in trade rumors while his longtime All-Star teammate Marc Gasol actually was traded. The Grizzlies are nowhere near the playoff picture at 14-games under .500 right now.

LeBron, Lakers' struggles

The LA Lakers are on the outside of the Western Conference's top eight teams right now and have just 22 games left to make up ground. As of right now, the team is still without guard Lonzo Ball, but he's expected back within early March.

The team was also without LeBron James for 17 games, as well as other key players such as Rajon Rondo, or JaVale McGee during portions of the season. While injuries are a part of the game, they usually aren't part of LeBron's game, as he's been mostly healthy through his career in Cleveland and Miami.

However, as seen in ESPN's "First Take" clip above, Stephen A. Smith may have a point there. Smith brings up that guys are blowing past LeBron on defense mostly because James isn't 100 percent healthy. Smith says Kyle Kuzma isn't giving what's expected recently either and head coach Luke Walton is making questionable calls. One also has to wonder about overall team motivation to win. Smith says nobody anticipated LeBron would look lesser right now.

Ahead of the NBA trade deadline, there were all sorts of headlines and rumors surrounding nearly half the Lakers' roster in a trade offer for the Pelicans' Anthony Davis. New Orleans didn't go for the deal, but it could very well have cost those players their motivation to play harder for the team going forward.

One thing has become synonymous with LeBron's career beyond joining new teams, and that is winning with teams where it seems improbable. It's improbable right now that this Lakers team will win the NBA title, but don't count them out of the playoffs just yet.
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