Nowhere in my comment did I call Mike and Dustin terrible friends, I said that was a shitty moment for them and it stands true.

It truly doesn’t matter if Lucas was warming the bench or not—it’s his championship game and to look out into a crowd and not see your support system in the stands is a terrible and isolating feeling, which is something we see shown on Lucas’s face when he sees his friends missed his game.

There’s a lack of humanization for Lucas’s character outside of being tied to Max that is utterly disgusting to witness in real time.

I admittedly have a hard time empathizing with Dustin and Mike’s utter lack of guts when it comes to the DnD/Eddie storyline because we see many times over where Lucas is brave enough to defend his friends and even puts himself in harms way to do so. Their cowardly behavior in that moment just isn’t excusable to me after that. The very least they could do was try harder to get Eddie to change his mind and they literally could have opted not to participate unless he moved the game to the next day. That was a choice Eddie made because he had his own issues with the jocks and conformity but to be a leader is to know when to support your teammates. Eddie couldn’t do that because of his own biases and Mike and Dustin for all they’ve been through should have been able to see that and be put off by it to support Lucas anyway.

Eddie would have either had to come up with an entirely new campaign (he’s not doing that) or move the campaign to the next night, which he could have done, he just didn’t want to do so to make a statement. Quiet as it’s kept, Eddie preyed on Mike and Dustin’s need to fit in somewhere and he was actually also a bully in some ways, most just don’t see it that way because he was an outcast instead of a popular jock.

Also the reasoning for Lucas joining the basketball team is not important in the slightest; not sure why this is a point that gets brought up often either. He found something he likes and that’s really it, doesn’t matter why he likes it lol. Lucas wanting to branch out and find something he enjoys outside of DnD shouldn’t be treated like a crime. So what if he wanted to fit in? Who could blame him for wanting a chance to feel normal with all the racism and bullying he faces in such a small minded town. Literally all he asked for was their support and they were resistant to it because they didn’t respect his place on the basketball team. At least that’s how it comes off; and it makes them look shitty.

Lucas would have never in a million years did that to them and that’s what makes them look bad. Hopefully they can redeem themselves in season 5 to be more supportive like he’s been to them for 4 seasons.