No player has ever played 23 NBA seasons, but not only did LeBron James do so, he once again performed at an extremely high level for the Los Angeles Lakers. While James missed the start of the season due to a bout with sciatica, once he was able to suit up he rarely sat out again and did everything he could to help the Lakers succeed, including a massive change in roles mid-season.
James led the Lakers to an upset of the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, but they were then swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round. In most cases getting swept out of the playoffs would be viewed as a disappointing end to the season, but James made it clear that with everything he did this season, he does not view this year in that way.
“I don’t know. I guess when you get over 40 you start forgetting s— that happened,” James said following the loss. “So I don’t even remember the last times walking off the court. Listen, like I said, s—, I left everything out on the floor. I control what I can control. I hate losing, obviously, but I was locked in on what we needed to do. I tried to make sure my guys were locked in on what we needed to do throughout the postseason.
“Obviously we fell a little short, but I’m not looking at my year as a disappointment. That’s for damn sure. Especially since I was put into some positions I’ve never played in my career before. Actually in my life. I’ve never been a third option in my life. So to be able to thrive in that role for that period of time and then have to step back into the role that I’ve been accustomed with over my career, or my life, and be able to thrive under that and my teammates allowing them to lead them under extreme circumstances, that was pretty cool for me at this stage in my career.”
As James noted, he was asked to move to a third option role and thrived as Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves took over primary creation duties. But when injuries took both out at the end of the season and start of the playoffs, James hopped back into the main playmaking role and led the Lakers to playoff success.
His future remains unclear and he will take some time to figure out what he will do for next season, but he continued to do things no NBA player has ever done at this stage of their career and he has every reason to be proud of that.
Lakers will honor process LeBron James takes this offseason
James is an unrestricted free agent this summer so if he chooses to continue his career, he will be free to sign with any team. James will take some time before deciding what he will do and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said the franchise will honor the process he chooses to take in making his decision.
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