Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James says winning assists crown has never been a goal of his

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has been dishing out dime after dime so far this season.

Throughout the course of his storied career, Los Angeles Lakers franchise player LeBron James has made a name for himself by being selfless. However, James has taken things to another level in that respect so far this season.

As of when this was written, the iconic player is leading the way in the NBA in terms of assists at 11.2 per game. The next closest guy in line is Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, who is averaging 9.1 dimes per contest.

If he can keep up the pace, James’ assist mark would be a new career-high for him. His current career-high came two seasons ago when he collected 9.1 dimes a night.

Albeit he is the league leader in assists at the moment, The King recently revealed that grabbing an assists crown has never been a personal goal of his.

Via Dave McMenamin of ESPN, James has never given much thought to the idea of being number one in the NBA in this category. Ron Gutterman of Lakers Nation provided transcription of James’ comments in a recent piece he assembled.

"“I don’t know,” James said recently. “That’s never been a goal of mine. … The assist has always been my favorite because it gives my teammates an opportunity to score. And that’s what’s always mattered to me.”"

LeBron’s comments suggest he is not too intrigued by the numbers he puts up. In spite of that, when he discussed what assists mean to him, his tone certainly changed.

During his brilliant career, the Ohio native has consistently made it a priority to share the sugar, so to speak. It is no secret that he likes to make sure his teammates look good.

Through 13 games, his stance has not wavered by any stretch of the imagination. However, one could argue his customary role has been somewhat different due to the presence of big man Anthony Davis.

As Gutterman noted, the 34-year-old has played quite a bit of point guard for the Lakers up to this juncture. A good part of that reason has been due to the desire to have AD be the team’s primary point of emphasis on offense.

James is still getting his fair share of shots when he wants them and is averaging 25.0 points. That is nothing to slouch about even supposing it being a little bit below his career average in that department.

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Part of why he does not need to score as much is simply because Davis is just that talented. Davis more than capable of creating his own shot, posting up down low, and running the floor for Los Angeles. Thus, it takes away some of the burden James had to carry in his first year with the Lakers.

Moreover, by virtue of James taking a backseat of sorts, it could benefit the Lakers in a different way. As McMenamin stated, Davis is a free agent this coming summer. Therefore, by making Davis the top option on offense, it clearly demonstrates that the Lakers want to establish a long-term commitment to him and make him happy.

Despite LeBron’s natural position being small forward, his style of play this season has been exactly what the Lakers need from him. It is every bit as crucial given that the team is somewhat thin on point guards.

Rajon Rondo remains on a minutes restriction and defensive specialist Avery Bradley is out with an injury. As a result, it is fair to expect that James’ role is not going to turn on a dime (pun intended) anytime soon.

Even by James’ high-octane standards, what he is doing in his 17th season in the league is north of impressive. To consider that he is gobbling up double-double after double-double is hard to not marvel at.

Whether James ultimately wins the assists crown or not is not the most important thing in the world. On the contrary, as long as he continues to do what he is doing, he will put the Lakers in great position to win games.

With a robust 11-2 record, L.A.’s success has largely been a by-product of James’ dynamite decision-making. The superstar looks very determined this season and basketball fans should be thankful that they get to witness true greatness personified.

The Lakers have great expectations this season, and with LeBron playing at such a high level, there is another crown that could be in store for the franchise.