While failing to mention Kawhi Leonard's phenomenal defense, LeBron James partly blamed the Miami Heat's sleeved jerseys for his struggles against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.
"I'm not making excuses, but I'm not a big fans of the jerseys," said James after the game. "Every time I shoot it feels like it's just pulling right up underneath my arm. I already don't have much room for error on my jump shot. It's definitely not a good thing."
The NBA claims it hasn't found a difference in shooting percentages in games where sleeved jerseys are worn, and although the sample size is small, Kevin Durant's numbers while playing in a "shirsey" support the league's assertion.
Durant has played two games in sleeves this year, Christmas at New York & All-Star. He scored 67 points on 24-43 shooting, 10-23 from 3.
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) March 7, 2014
Those stats fall almost directly in line with Durant's overall numbers. He's averaging 31.8 points per game while shooting 51.0 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Durant's numbers are even slightly better when he's wearing sleeves. But that shouldn't come as any surprise given the high-scoring nature and lazy defense of the All-Star Game, which accounts for half of the sample size.
On Friday, the "Slim Reaper" gave his take on the sleeved jerseys, opting to take a different stance on the shirts than the reigning NBA MVP.
"I don't mind," Durant told The Oklahoman. "I play in T-shirts. I played in hoodies before. So it don't matter. Just give us a basketball. We'll go play."
Shots fired?