Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is once again showing that doubting his capabilities on the basketball court isn’t the smartest of ideas. James’ slow start to the campaign after missing the first 14 games due to sciatica led to his doubters writing him off, but he is proving them wrong once more.
James’ days of being able to dominate on the court were said to be behind him, especially after his iconic 10-point streak finally ended at 1,297 games this season. The 40-year-old only managed to put up eight points in a 123-120 win over the Toronto Raptors on Dec. 4, and looked like a shell of his former self that night.
This was also right after it took James until the fourth quarter to get to 10 points against the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 1. Tales of his demise as a star were spreading, but he has now gotten back to putting up All-NBA numbers.
Since the streak ended, James has averaged 27.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game. The 21-time All-Star has been efficient too, shooting 53.8% from the field. The threes aren’t falling (30.8%), but that’s about it as far as the major negatives go. It seems pretty clear now that he just needed some time to get his feet under him after missing much of training camp and preseason.
Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony had faced some ridicule for boldly stating earlier this month that James could lead the NBA in scoring if he wanted to. That still seems like a stretch, but he is showing he can put up big numbers.
With the Lakers down four starters against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday after Luka Doncic was forced to leave the game due to injury, James took center stage. He racked up 36 points (15-28 FG), four rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block in a 103-88 loss.
While the final score indicates this game wasn’t close, James did give the Clippers a huge scare by helping cut the deficit to seven midway through the fourth. The Lakers ultimately just didn’t have enough to complete the comeback, but he showed he can still put a team on his back when facing adversity.
James is now averaging 20.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game in 2025-26. It will be interesting to see just how much better his numbers look come the end of the campaign.
We’ll see James in action next when the Lakers take on the Suns at the Mortgage Matchup Center on Tuesday at 9 PM ET. If Doncic, Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton, and Rui Hachimura aren’t back from injury, he’ll need to go superhero mode if the Lakers are to avoid suffering back-to-back defeats.
