LeBron James leads the league in scoring despite being an incredible 37 years of age, individually, he is having one of the best seasons of his career. He’s achieved many milestones this season, recently passing Karl Malone to clinch the 2nd spot in the NBA’s all-time regular-season scoring list. It’s pretty wild to think about, considering that he admittedly spends a lot of his free time having some wine and tequila at home.
A lot of this has not led to team success though, there has arguably no team in the league that has underperformed to the level that the Lakers have. Expected to be favorites for the title, the Lakers are currently treading water as the 9th seed, with Anthony Davis injured for a long stretch of the season and Russell Westbrook simply failing to gel with his new team.
Before a few wins in recent games, the Lakers were slumping badly and the mood around the team seemed to be one of dejection and defeat. Even LBJ was accused of checking out, although he has since put in some more monster performances. But despite all the gloom surrounding the organization, James has told ESPN that he is having the time of his life playing the game this season.
“I’m literally having the time of my life right now,” James said after the Lakers finished their four-game road trip by winning two of their final three. “The game’s such a beautiful thing.”
“Because I couldn’t care less what the narrative about our team is,” James said. “At my point in my career, I don’t get involved in that stuff. I don’t read about it, I don’t hear it too much. … None of that stuff matters to me, I’m having a blast playing the game of basketball.”
The fact that expectations for the season from Lakers fans are now almost entirely gone may have allowed James to play a more free form of basketball, something he hasn’t been able to do for most of his career. It’s no surprise that LeBron is enjoying himself but if something unexpected and significant isn’t achieved soon, it’ll be quite a bad look for LBJ.
