This has been a very difficult season for the Los Angeles Lakers. Once dubbed a superteam at the start of the season, based on the collective experience and star power the team had, the Lakers have vastly underperformed for the most part this season. But the one consistently great performer for them has been, without a doubt, LeBron James.
Even though he has missed a number of games this season for multiple reasons, James has been an outstanding presence for the Lakers, constantly performing at a high level. And his most recent run of games has been spectacular, where James has shown truly why many consider him one of the most ageless players in the NBA today.
Last night, just a few days short of his 37th birthday, LeBron James put up a 32-point triple-double, with 11 points and 11 assists, to help the Lakers break their losing streak and defeat the Houston Rockets. And James took the lead over the NBA when it comes to an important scoring statistic.
LeBron James now leads the NBA in 30-point games, despite only playing 23 games this year.
He turns 37 on Thursday.
— nick wright (@getnickwright) December 29, 2021
With his latest scoring outburst against the Rockets, James now leads the NBA when it comes to 30-point games this season. LeBron has 13 such games, 8 of which have come in the month of December alone. James has scored at least 30 points in more than half of his games this season, 13 of 23. Despite only playing 23 games, James is ahead of everyone else in the NBA.
This statistic, when combined with the Lakers’ win-loss record, just shows how incredibly effective LeBron James has been this season, and how little help he has had from his teammates.
Out of his 13 30-point games, the Lakers have lost 6 of those games. That is nearly half the games where James had 30+ points, but the Lakers still lost the game. The way James has been playing, nearing age 37, he doesn’t feel the need to think about retiring any time soon.
The rest of the Los Angeles Lakers really need to step up and help LeBron James. James himself has claimed that the Lakers haven’t been at full strength at times, and thus none of their lineups have any tangible chemistry. But they need to develop that chemistry if the Lakers want to win the NBA championship this season.
