Surely his time had come. As an injured LeBron James watched from the sidelines while the Los Angeles Lakers missed the 2019 NBA Playoffs, many people surmised that the star’s long-anticipated demise had finally commenced.
Though his numbers in his first season as a Los Angeles Laker remained eye-popping – 27.4 PPG, 8.5 REB, and 8.3 AST on 51.0 FG% – he lost his battle against a strained groin, the first serious injury of his career.
He ended up missing 27 games and the Lakers, in turn, missed the playoffs. For a guy with legendary durability who had also reached eight consecutive NBA Finals while playing alongside journeymen like J.R. Smith, Jeff Green, and Iman Shumpert for several of those, it certainly appeared that LeBron’s seemingly timeless clock had started ticking.
Not so fast
Those naysayers must have forgotten who they were talking about. Because in classic LeBron fashion, the GOAT reinvented himself as the game’s finest point guard and led the Lakers to the 2020 NBA Championship.
A born-again LeBron along with star power forward Anthony Davis, aided by a group of has-beens like Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo, compiled a dominant 16-5 postseason record on their way to hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy. So much for the vaunted Western Conference that LeBron critics had clung to so stubbornly in their ongoing rebukes of the King’s greatness.
In 2021, 36-year old LeBron reasserted his dominance until a fluke sprained ankle derailed the final couple of months of the regular season. While his absence put a nail in his MVP aspirations and caused the Lakers to fall to the 7-seed in the West, a now-healthy LeBron (knock on wood) has the Lake Show back in the playoffs and poised to make another run at a title.
Yeah, he's ready. pic.twitter.com/oW7nR6raLQ
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) May 23, 2021
The truth is the truth with LeBron James
Say it with me: LeBron James is still the best player in the NBA at 36-years old. And dare I say it: Laker LeBron is the BEST VERSION of LeBron James that we have ever seen.
That’s right. He is better now than he was at age 22 when he single-handedly led the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals. He is better now than he was at age 27 when helped the Miami Heat steamroll past the Oklahoma City Thunder for his first title.
And he is better now than he was at age 31 when he willed the Cavaliers back from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the 73-9 Golden State Warriors for the city of Cleveland’s first championship in 62 years. Let’s dive into it.