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Lakers: LeBron James missing out on scoring title is good for basketball

By Jason Reed

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 01: LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers walks off the court after warming up before the basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Crypto.com Arena on April 1, 2022 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 Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 01: LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers walks off the court after warming up before the basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Crypto.com Arena on April 1, 2022 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 Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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The Los Angeles Lakers officially shut LeBron James down with the team being eliminated from playoff contention to end the season. This was a surprise to many, as it was assumed that LeBron would try and play out the season so he could win the scoring title this season.

Instead, LeBron finishes averaging 30.3 points per game in 56 games this season and is going to finish two games short of qualifying for the award. Even if LeBron played the right amount of games, Joel Embiid is currently averaging more points per game this season at 30.4.

This might be disappointing to some as it could have been one positive in this Lakers’ season. However, while it is one less thing for LeBron to put on his resume, it is something that is better for the game of basketball as a whole.

LeBron James doesn’t deserve the scoring title after the season the Lakers had.

Yes, LeBron James did put up the points per game to technically “deserve” winning the scoring title but it was clear after the All-Star Break that he was checking out on winning basketball games and was instead checking in on accolade chasing.

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LeBron saw how bad this roster was and that is fair, but the bad roster is his doing with his role in the Russell Westbrook trade. It doesn’t matter that he is the face of the league and the Lakers are the league’s most prominent team, it never feels good when a player simply puts up points on a bad team without doing the thing he has done his entire career — making his teammates better.

Meanwhile, Joel Embiid is many people’s pick to be the MVP this season and he is playing on a Philadelphia 76ers team that very well could win the title this season. Regardless of your thoughts on James Harden, it is impossible to deny that Embiid held the fort down during the entire Ben Simmons saga. Embiid is deserving of this accolade and he is probably deserving of the MVP as well.

I think it is safe to say that nobody outside of LeBron’s camp (or his loyal fans) are upset that he is not going to win the scoring title this season.

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I can definitely promise you that every Laker fan in the world would rather see LeBron average 20 points per game if that meant the team actually made the playoffs.