Lakers Newsletter: LeBron James Still Shows No Signs Of Dropping From The Elite Ranks
Lakers Newsletter: LeBron James Still Shows No Signs Of Dropping From The Elite Ranks
Blog Article
LeBron’s season
Two hundred forty-one months ago, LeBron James won his first NBA Player of the Month award for a 12-game stretch in January. It was his second season in the league and it was clear that Cleveland’s days as a pushover were quickly moving behind them.
That month, the Cavs were 8-4 thanks to James averaging 26.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 8.5 assists on .520 (FG%)/.400 (3-PT%)/.676 (FT%) shooting splits.
That team would miss this playoffs despite finishing over .500, the last time a James team would fail to make the postseason until his ill-timed pairing with Russell Westbrook in the 2021-22 season.
Tuesday, he won that award again for a record 41st time (Kobe Bryant is second with 17 wins), becoming the oldest player ever to be honored for their play over a month. Playing in 11 of the Lakers’ 12 games in February, James averaged 29.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 6.9 assists on .555/.443/.738 shooting splits with the Lakers winning 10 times — all while he anchored what’s become the NBA’s best defense with an incredible run of effort, attention, communication and execution.
It’s all kind of mind-boggling, the level of play we’re witnessing (pardon the LeBron pun), an all-time great season from a 40-year-old in any athletic profession and undoubtedly the best by a NBA senior citizen in league history. Tuesday, in the Lakers’ seventh straight win, James moved past 50,000 career points in regular- and postseason games, a number he actually moved past a handful of games earlier if stats from the NBA’s play-in tournament and In-Season Tournament Finals officially counted, which they don’t.
“It’s amazing. Watching him do this stuff at this age, it’s just unbelievable,” Doncic said postgame Tuesday. “Like 50k points... It’s I can’t even explain how insane that is. He might get to 70k, you never know.”
Doncic was joking, mostly, but the limits for James and the Lakers are being rewritten in front of us each time the team rips off a bunch of wins.
Beginning in late December when James began ceding possessions to Austin Reaves, he has become the NBA’s most precise counterpuncher, a deadly catch-and-shoot player who can still bully in the half court and who can run fly routes in transition.
He’s the team’s best catch-and-shoot player, making 48.3% on catch-and-shoot three-point attempts since Christmas. Only Luke Kennard, old friend Taurean Prince and Isaiah Joe have been better on catch-and-shoot threes since Dec. 25 and none of them have anywhere close to the on-ball responsibilities.
“I’m very comfortable playing off the ball and finding my spots, running the floor, getting the outlet pass from Luka, being on the backside of the defense if he’s either being blitzed in pick-and-rolls or switched in pick-and-rolls,” James said Tuesday. “He attracts so many eyes and bodies. I’ve been very blessed to be able to be able to be adaptable to whatever team I’ve been on throughout my career, to be able to change. And this is another instance.”
In the immediacy of the Doncic deal, James scoffed in the locker room at the notion that he would struggle playing alongside such a ball-dominant force. He’d found a way with Dwyane Wade in Miami and he’d figured it out with Kyrie Irving in Cleveland. This, he thought, wouldn’t be any different. Report this page