LeBron James has been clear about what he wants. The Lakers have a little more than a month to decide if they want to give it to him, writes SIChrisMannix
. Sure, Michael Jordan was dropping 40-point games in his age-40 season, but those two Wizards years were more itch-scratching for Jordan, whose Washington teams never cracked 37 wins. No one thought MJ, in between knee drains, was capable of leading a team to the Finals. James very much looks like he can.
The numbers are astonishing. James is averaging eight rebounds. He’s handing out seven assists. He’s shooting 51% from the floor. StatMuse recently tweeted out a list of scoring numbers for players in their 20th seasons. Vince Carter averaged 5.4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who James is closing in on for the NBA scoring record, put up 10.1. Kobe Bryant? 17.6. James is averaging 29.1.
Everyone is impressed. “Phenomenal,” was how Lakers coach Darvin Ham framed James’s recent run. “Masterful,” tweeted Kevin Durant. Paul Pierce, a longtime James rival, called James the GOAT. On the Lakers postgame show, James Worthy described James as an “old uncle,” saying, “you know you’re younger than he is, quicker than he is, but you just can’t beat him.”LeBron James has made it clear the Lakers need to make moves ahead of the trade deadline.
LeBron wants them to use it. All of it. Stuff every asset—particularly the draft picks—in a UPS envelope and see what you can get for it. There’s no sourcing here. It’s, at least indirectly. He not-so-subtly called for more shooting in October when he said the Lakers “aren’t sitting here with a lot of lasers on our team.” Last month he went out of his way to answer a question about how long he wants to play with “I don’t want to finish my career playing at this level from a team aspect.
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