The Los Angeles Lakers‘ 128-106 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena was LeBron James‘ first game in the NBA as a 41-year-old. Postgame, James was asked what advice he’d give to his 18-year-old self, and he had an interesting response.
“It’s a lot,” James said, via Dave McMenamin. A lot of advice I would give him. I would just say keep the main thing the main thing. Work hard; there’s no substitute for hard work. I think hard work and dedication, if you want to be great, gonna pay off. Keep the blinders on.
“As much as they praise you, it’s even triple, quadruple people trying to bring you down, and wanna tear you down every single day,” James added. “Protect your family, protect your mental space. I mean, it’s a lot more, but just go out and just have fun, enjoy the ride, because you never know when it come to an end. It goes fast.”
James entered the NBA straight out of high school, and tremendous expectations were placed on him. The Cleveland Cavaliers had selected this 18-year-old Akron native with the first pick of the 2003 NBA Draft, and he was viewed as the savior.
James, of course, had been anointed as “The Chosen One” during his time at St. Vincent–St. Mary High School. He had garnered quite the fan following before he even played in the NBA, but all that hype and adulation invariably led to so many more wanting him to fall flat on his face. James felt that too, as he once spoke about what was going through his mind before his debut.
“Yeah, I definitely remember that moment,” LeBron said. “It was very stressful, it was very stressful for me. Didn’t get much sleep the night before. Didn’t get much sleep during my pregame nap. I was extremely nervous. I felt the world of the game of basketball on my shoulders.
“I felt like kind of pretty much everyone besides my family and friends wanted me to fail,” James added. “And I just kind of channeled that in. I kind of was just very quiet the day of the game. All the way up until the ball went up in the air for the tip-ball, I was nervous. My stomach was turning, whatever the case may be. But once the game started, I guess the rest is history.”
James had 25 points (12-20 FG), six rebounds, nine assists, and four steals against the Sacramento Kings on his debut. He would finish his rookie season with averages of 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game.
James was named Rookie of the Year for his efforts, and many more accolades would come in the years that followed. He has now won four titles, four Finals MVPs, four MVPs, a scoring title, and an assists title.
Klutch Sports Group CEO and James’ agent Rich Paul believes his client should have won seven MVPs and one DPOY. Paul also added that he was never going to be a unanimous MVP because he did things his way, and people don’t like it when athletes do that. That, of course, is a reference to James missing out on a unanimous MVP because Carmelo Anthony got one vote in 2013.
James is no longer playing like an MVP these days, but that’s to be expected considering he is in his 23rd season. He has had his ups and downs, and this Pistons game was one he’d like to forget. The 21-time All-Star had just 17 points (6-17 FG), four rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block as the Lakers got blown out.
The loss dropped the Lakers to 20-11, and they’ll be in action next against the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena on Friday at 10:30 PM ET.
