showdown

LeBron James scored 28 points as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets to set up a Western Conference semi-final play-off against reigning NBA champions Oklahoma City Thunder.

James also added seven rebounds and eight assists to help the Lakers to a 98-78 victory, which secured a 4-2 series win against the Rockets.

The Lakers had led the series 3-0 and finally closed out the best-of-seven contest in convincing style away at Houston, whose top scorer was Amen Thompson with 18 points.

“A lot of our guys, quite frankly, have not been in this position, have not been in a close-out situation, especially on the road, so it was important for me to go out and set the tone,” said 41-year-old James.

Lakers coach JJ Redick was full of admiration for the performance of James, who is the first player to take part in 23 consecutive NBA seasons and is also the league’s record points scorer.

“To me, he’s had the greatest career of any NBA player,” said Redick. “You can argue all you want; I don’t care to postulate on who’s the greatest of all time.

“He’s one of, if not the greatest of all time, and for him to do it again and answer the bell again, it’s baffling in some ways.”

The Lakers face a tough task against the Thunder, who finished top of the Western Conference and secured a 4-0 series win against the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the NBA play-offs.

The first game of their best-of-seven series is in Oklahoma on Tuesday.

Tom Skinner, an entrepreneur who was on The Apprentice in 2019, appeared on Question Time in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, which featured a debate about social media giants

TV personality Tom Skinner squirmed under interrogation from Fiona Bruce during a showdown about social media on Question Time.

The presenter of the topical debate programme accused Mr Skinner, 35, of being “part of the problem” amid the debate around the pros and cons of apps, such as TikTok and Instagram. The entrepreneur regularly posts videos to his 536,000 TikTok followers, including clips of him eating full English breakfasts at his favourite café. He told Question Time he also makes money by promoting products on Instagram, TikTok and other apps.

But Ms Bruce fronted him on his use of the platforms, suggesting he himself was actually playing into the challenges young people and their parents face with social media. Meta and Google were this week found liable for causing addiction in users in a landmark £2.2million legal case, which led to last night’s debate around how they government should help protect children from such addiction.

Addressing Mr Skinner, the host said: “As you said, you are benefiting from social media, you make part of your living that way and, part of the reason you are able to do so is because of the addictive algorithms that will push people towards yours (social media content)… It is giving you a platform, and job opportunities come your way because of it. In the nicest possible way, you are part of the problem.”

The remark led to a wry smile from Justice Minister Jake Richards, also on the panel in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. Dad-of-three Mr Skinner hesitated as he answered, eventually insisting his videos are harmless.

READ MORE: Calls mount for UK social media ban as Meta hit with ruling over ‘addictive’ appsREAD MORE: Parents across UK to get new powers to limit teenagers’ social media use under trial

Ms Bruce, presenter of the programme since 2019, said: “How can you on the one hand say ‘people shouldn’t be doing it so much’ but, on the other hand, you are benefiting from it?” It left the entrepreneur stuttering again, before he went on to stress the importance of the roles parents should play in protecting children.

“It’s bad. It’s bad when people sit on their phone all day. I’ve seen it myself. I’ve done it myself, I sometimes know I’ve got to be up in four hours and I’ve sat there and I’ve scrolled my brains through, watching absolute nonsense,” Mr Skinner, from Romford, east London, said.

Other panellists defended Mr Skinner, arguing his clips are innocent and “do not drive the worst of the algorithms”. The case this week heard Meta and Google both were negligent in the design or operation of their platforms — including the “infinite scroll” feature that was claimed to trigger addiction in users.

The jury also decided each company’s negligence was a major factor in causing harm to a 20-year-old woman, who says her use of social media as a child addicted her to the technology and worsened her mental health struggles.

Both firms have strongly rejected the verdict and plan to appeal. Meta said: “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options”. A spokesperson for Google added: “This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”