And it seems Bayless is also not convinced the Lakers should have been reveling in their success with their form nosediving ever since.

The Undisputed host posted on X: ‘What a lifeless, heartless defensive effort by LeBron’s Lakers in Chicago, losing 124-108, allowing 18 threes to a not-very-good shooting team.

‘Somewhere, Michael Jordan is rolling his eyes, if not chuckling.

‘LeBron’s Lakers are now 1-4 since winning their “championship.”

‘Now they go to Minnesota and to OKC … the teams with the West’s two best records. Congrats, King. Raise that banner.’

James had 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Lakers, falling just shy of a second consecutive triple-double.

But the Bulls put the Lakers to the sword at United Center with a ruthless shooting display as DeMar DeRozan put up 27 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Chicago shot 54.5 per cent from the field and had eight players score in double figures. Coby White had 17 points and reserve Ayo Dosunmu added 14. Nikola Vucevic had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his 16th double-double of the season.

Trailing by as much as 18 points early in the second quarter, Los Angeles rallied to repeatedly trim the deficit to as low as two as late as halfway through the third quarter, but couldn´t overtake DeRozan and Chicago.

Things don’t get any easier for the Lakers as they travel to face Western Conference leaders Minnesota on Thursday night.

Reaction to the move by the Lakers to put their In-Season Tournament banner next to their NBA titles was divided.

‘I think it was awesome,’ said LeBron. ‘To acknowledge wins throughout the course of a marathon, I think it’s pretty cool.

‘That’s the first. That’s the inauguration of it, so for our fans that didn’t get an opportunity to be in Vegas, they got an opportunity to kind of share that celebration with us tonight, share that moment. Something that will live on forever, for sure, here.’

Fans, however, were less enthusiastic: ‘Isn’t it a lil disrespectful to hang it next to the real championship banners?’

Another added: ‘It’s like unveiling your score on a college quiz that’s worth zero percent of your final grade.’

Many others referenced the late Kobe Bryant, whom they said ‘would have been embarrassed.’

The new vertical In-Season Tournament banner hangs near the five horizontal banners representing the Minneapolis Lakers’ titles before the team moved to the West Coast.

The 12 golden, horizontal title banners earned in Los Angeles still dominate the north wall of the arena.