The most surprising player on the Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James
If you thought LeBron James would be this good during the 2019-2020 season, you are lying. You’ve heard it all already. LBJ is 35-years-old, and he’s played over 50,000 total minutes throughout his career. He’s also played in eight straight finals (which means he had less offseason recovery time than any other player in the NBA), and he’s been in the league 17 seasons. We could go on and on. You get the point, the guys old and played a ton.
Last season LeBron looked slow (even before he suffered a groin injury in late December). He got his stats, but he didn’t pass the eye test. He looked like he’d no longer be able to will his team to victory on offense like he’d done so many times in the past.
And his defense went from a problem when he was on the Cavs to a major dilemma for Luke Walton and the rest of the Lakers coaching staff. He could no longer contain players on the perimeter, and most of the time, he didn’t even bother to close out on shooters beyond the arc.
To make matters worse, several young, in-their-prime players (we won’t mention names here) started openly bashing LeBron, telling the world they had no desire to play with LA’s new aging superstar. Lakers’ fans were sweating bullets over James, wondering if he was indeed “washed.”
Fast forward to this season, and LBJ looked spry again. Despite LeBron’s advanced NBA age, he was the best player in the association during the 2019-2020 season. Giannis Antetokounmpo will probably win the MVP, and his numbers were slightly better. Still, there isn’t a single executive in the league who would take “The Greek Freak” over LeBron to win a seven-game playoffs series.
LeBron transformed into the best two-way force in the NBA. He was the best offensive weapon in the league, and he was probably the best wing defender throughout the year (2.30 DRPM, 4th in the NBA). All this leads to a rabbit hole of questions. Why did LeBron look so slow last season, even before he was injured?
Did he simply need an offseason of rest? Or did he quickly realize that a team made up of players such as Lonzo Ball, Kentavious Caldwell-pope, Lance Stephenson, and Rajon Rondo had no chance of winning in the playoffs? Did he take a gap year? And down the conspiracy rabbit hole, we go.
The reasons why LeBron James improved so much this season at age 35 remain a mystery, but you could make the case that he should win the Most Improved Player Award.
It’ll never happen, but he went from the 15th best player in the association (before his injury) last season to arguably the best player this year. That type of one-season jump is almost unheard of in professional sports, especially from a 35-year-old former MVP.
LeBron James was not only the most extraordinary player on the Lakers this season, but he was also the most surprising athlete in the league.