Initially, when LeBron James made his season debut for the Los Angeles Lakers, a built-in grace period was given in his 23rd year.
After missing preseason and training camp, James had to play his way into shape and that is hard to do at 41-years-old. However, these past couple of weeks, the four-time champion has been in a nice rhythm offensively. In the last 10 games, he is averaging 25.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.3 assists on 54.9% from the field and 34.7% from 3-point range.
Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers has coached against James for essentially his entire career and he is amazed by how the Lakers star is playing, considering his age.
“Yeah, it’s amazing,” Rivers said before the Bucks’ game against the Lakers. “Just his age and watching what he does. I just remember I was just illustrating all that stuff and the fact that he’s overachieved to what we thought he would be is just remarkable when you think about it and he’s still doing it. He’s had the greatest run ever, there’s no debating that. As long as, he’s been good longer than anybody and it’s pretty amazing.”
Rivers mentioned a key point of no player doing what James is doing right now at his age. In the midst of his 23rd season in the NBA, no one has reached that point and who knows if there ever will be another player that has this level of sustainability.
It was on display against Milwaukee, the 21-time All-Star willed Los Angeles back into the game in the fourth quarter with momentum plays. While the shooting splits were not great, for an aging star to still have moments where he can take over a game is remarkable.
There remains no solidified answer on when James will call it a career, but one can imagine that he very well may return for a 24th season. Who could blame him because his production has not wavered up to this point.
LeBron James brushes aside strong play due to final turnover vs. Bucks
The Lakers did not play their finest game against the Bucks, specifically, Luka Doncic had his fair share of struggles. Doncic was in foul trouble and eventually fouled out, leaving James responsible for willing L.A. back into the game.
Unfortunately, when there was a chance to tie the game with 16 seconds left, James turned it over and Milwaukee sealed a win with free throws. While his strong fourth quarter should be acknowledged, he could only focus on the turnover with the game on the line.
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