LeBron James dazzled in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 123-100 win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena. James continues to impress in his 22nd season in the NBA and during his postgame press conference, spoke about how special that is but added he won’t keep playing until the wheels fall off.
“It’s pretty cool that with the amount of miles I’ve put on the tires and the lack of tread that’s on these tires and I’m still able to get up and down the highway and do it at a high level,” James said. “I just try to give everything to the game outside of the game before the game even starts, if that makes sense.
“I arrive 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,” James continued. “I’ve been blessed by the man above with some out-of-this-world ability from the beginning and then I took full advantage of it. I wasn’t going to disrespect what he’s given me.
“Let’s see how long I can do it,” James added. “But I won’t do it until the wheels fall off, I’ll tell you that. I won’t do that. I won’t be one of those guys.”
LeBron James, after becoming the oldest player in NBA history to record back-to-back triple-doubles by hanging 19 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds a month shy of his 40th birthday spoke about how much he has left: “I won’t do it until the wheels fall off, I’ll tell you that.” pic.twitter.com/ph6NUKIOoN
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 11, 2024
We have seen many NBA icons stick around even when they’re well past their best, but James won’t go down that route. The 20-time All-Star will walk away before he gets to the point where he can no longer dominate on the court. You’d expect that to happen fairly quickly when someone is 39 years old, but this “old man” isn’t slowing down.
James finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, 16 assists, and one steal in the win over the Raptors as the Lakers improved to 6-4. It was his second straight triple-double and he is unsurprisingly the oldest player to record two in a row.
James is now averaging 23.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game in this 2024-25 season. He has also been very efficient, shooting 51.5% from the field, 44.4% from three (career-best), and 81.6% from the line (career-best).
Plenty of NBA stars would be delighted to put up those numbers at their peak and James is doing this with just over a month left for his 40th birthday. I think he can keep this up for another season or two, which is an absurd thing to say considering his age. It just speaks to how special of a talent he is.
LeBron James Thanked A Fan For Reminding Him He Was One Rebound Shy Of A Triple-Double
James nearly missed out on getting a triple-double against the Raptors, as he was on nine rebounds for much of that fourth quarter. Fortunately for him, a fan at the game reminded him he needed another and he spoke about that interaction postgame.
“He definitely yelled at me, got my attention saying, ‘One more rebound.’ I was like, ‘What?’ He was like, ‘One more.’ So, I got one more and I pointed at him to acknowledge that I was listening,” James said. “I appreciated it to that guy over there.”
LeBron acknowledged a fan who reminded him that he was 1 rebound away from a triple double 🤝 pic.twitter.com/nApZdtdCBn
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) November 11, 2024
The reason James put in the effort to get all those rebounds was because Anthony Davis exited the game with an eye injury in the third quarter. LeBron hauled in two huge defensive rebounds right after Davis went out and stated in his postgame interview that he had no choice but to put more responsibility on his shoulders.
“I don’t have a choice,” James said. “If AD goes down, I gotta put some more responsibility on my shoulders and try to make plays to help our team win.”
A 40 year old saying this is insane. pic.twitter.com/ktzrwex5dS
— ²³ (@SpeakContext) November 11, 2024
It’s unclear right now if Davis is going to miss games due to the injury but if he does, then James will have to carry a bigger load once again. He and the Lakers will be taking on the Memphis Grizzlies next at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday at 10 PM ET.
Davis missed the last meeting between these sides and as a result, the Grizzlies blew out the Lakers 131-114. It would be hard to optimistic about LA’s chances of winning if he misses this second clash too, but you never say never when James is on the team.
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