In his 22nd NBA season, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James continues to defy what a player should be capable of at this stage of his career. Through the first 10 games of the year, LeBron is averaging 23.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 8.9 assists while shooting a career-high 44.4% from 3-point range.
James has already recorded three triple-doubles as well and at times has looked just as fast and athletic as he did 10 years ago. It is truly mind-blowing to witness and it feels as if LeBron could keep playing for another five seasons if he wanted to.
And while James says that what he is doing at his age still hasn’t sunk in, he made it clear that he doesn’t want to be one of those players who is a complete shell of himself when he does finally call it a career.
“No. I haven’t,” LeBron said when asked if his performance at this age has sunk in. “Pretty cool that with the amount of miles I put on the tires, lack of tread on these tires, and I’m still able to get up and down the highway and do it at a high level. I just try to give everything to the game outside of the game before the game even starts if that makes sense. I arrived here four or five hours before the game, and I’m already starting to do all the things to put me in position to be the best I can be when the fans are in here and the ball is tipped and everybody’s going crazy.
“I’ve been blessed by the man above with some out-of-this-world ability from the beginning, and then I just took full advantage of it, and I wasn’t gonna disrespect what he’s given me and see how long I can, how long I can do it. But I won’t do it until the wheels fall off. I tell you that. I won’t do that, I won’t be one of those guys.”
Even though he didn’t outright say it, this is LeBron embracing the Mamba Mentality of fellow Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. As he said, James was blessed with some amazing gifts, but his mindset of getting everything possible out of those gifts is what Kobe was all about.
LeBron insisting that he won’t be playing until the wheels fall off would also suggest that he won’t be around for much longer. The Lakers obviously would love him to keep playing and his performance so far this year proves he could keep going at a high level for a while. But that isn’t what LeBron wants so it everyone really should appreciate him while he is still suiting up.
Lakers center Jaxson Hayes: LeBron James makes the game ‘so easy’ for him
The best part about LeBron James’ game is how he affects his teammates because of his vision, passing and basketball IQ. Lakers center Jaxson Hayes has been a beneficiary of that and the big man admitted LeBron makes things significantly easier for him on the court.
“He makes the game so easy,” Hayes said. “We’ll be in a timeout and he’ll tell me where to go and then next thing you know, we come out of the timeout and he gets me a dropoff dunk. So he just knows the game so well and you know he’s gonna pass and find you if he has two or three guys on him.”
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