LeBron James opting to suit up for the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night was remarkable for two major reasons. First, L.A. played on Wednesday night in Houston and didn’t land in Miami until 5:00 a.m. local time. Second, the appearance gave James a career 1,611 games played, tying Boston Celtics legend Robert Parish for the most in NBA history.
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a stat in which LeBron isn’t the all-time leader. But games played means a little extra for James, who spoke about the record itself as well as the previous holder in Parish.
“It is pretty cool. Like I’ve said, availability. I always wanted to be available to my teammates, either in Cleveland, [Miami], and now L.A. It takes a lot,” James said on Spectrum SportsNet. “It’s a mental toll trying to play a lot and being out there for this whole thing and all of the circumstances that I’ve kind of been given. It’s just a lot, man. I just give a lot of praise to the man above and just loving the game and appreciating the game. And shoutout [Robert Parish], man. I’ve been seeing a lot of the things he’s saying about me. There’s not a lot of those OGs that talk like that to the generation after them, and also about me personally. So shoutout the Chief. He’s super cool, he’s dope. I like him.”
LeBron’s incredible longevity is made even more incredible when considering just how available he has been throughout his career. He played in at least 75 of the 82 games for the first eight seasons of his career. He didn’t miss more than 20 games in a single season until his 16th season, his first with the Lakers.
James has played in 65 or more games in 17 of his 23 seasons. There are almost no superstars, or players, in NBA history who have been that available for that long. The games played record, which will be solely his after Saturday’s bout with the Orlando Magic, is a well-earned testament to that superpower.
LeBron James responds to people saying Lakers are better without him
James missed three consecutive games earlier this month, with the Lakers winning all three games. That’s all it took for people to say that the team was better off with him not in the lineup. However, L.A. has won all five since his return and both he and the Lakers have looked incredible.
That prompted a response from James when asked about people making that bold a claim about him and the franchise.
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