The Los Angeles Lakers would be foolish to not keep Stanley Johnson
By Jason Reed
![LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 25: Stanley Johnson #14 of the Los Angeles Lakers watches his shot during the game against the Brooklyn Nets at Crypto.com Arena on December 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 25: Stanley Johnson #14 of the Los Angeles Lakers watches his shot during the game against the Brooklyn Nets at Crypto.com Arena on December 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/723cf3e575c64873a65e8dd88a49046e1a6fcd603cf80253eb7483b507457664.jpg)
Third takeaway: There are only so many miles left on LeBron James’ body
We praised LeBron James for his game against the Houston Rockets as he had a vintage LeBron performance to help the Lakers get the win. In the process, LeBron took the lead for the most 30-point games in the NBA and became just the third player to reach 36,000 career points.
LeBron had another great game in this one, once more proving that he is not yet giving up on this Lakers team despite it giving him every reason to actually give up. LeBron scored 37 points with 13 rebounds and seven assists. He is putting up incredible numbers this season and the results just don’t match.
As much praise as LeBron deserves for these performances, we have to realize that he only has so many miles left on his body. Adding Russell Westbrook was supposed to be a move that made the regular season easier on LeBron and instead it has made him work even harder.
LeBron has been a bit injury-prone since joining the Lakers and he is only going to become more likely to get hurt the older he gets. Sure, he has defied father time to this point but at some point father time always wins. The more miles he puts on his body in December road games the quicker that will come.
The worst part is that there is no alternative. The Lakers need LeBron to play like this to even be competitive because if he didn’t, this team would start plummeting down the standings and might actually miss the playoffs.
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It’s awesome to see LeBron play like this and defy his age, but he only has so many of these performances left and it coming in a December loss is less than ideal.