The bottom came in Minnesota on the second night of back-to-back games in early December, LeBron James showing signs that the mileage he’d compiled over 22 seasons of NBA basketball was starting to erode away his invincibility.
The signs had been building before that wintry Monday night. The game before, he bullied mismatches in the fourth quarter of a one-point win against the Utah Jazz that was much harder than it should’ve ever been. He was bad against the Thunder, middling against the Spurs and shook against the Suns and Nuggets.
Over an eight-game stretch from Nov. 19 through that night in Minnesota, the Lakers were 104 points worse than their opponents when James was on the court.
The end, for the first time, seemed like it was sprinting toward James instead of the other way around. That night in Minnesota, James had to scratch for every one of his 10 points, each miss dragging the shoulders that were always built to carry so much toward the ground.
As a Laker, he might’ve never looked worse.
“It’s everything,” he said of what was going wrong. “It’s the rhythm. I just feel off rhythm.”
That night in Minnesota felt like it happened forever ago as James spoke after the Lakers’ final practice before Game 1 of the playoffs — a series fittingly that will take the team back to Minnesota for Games 3 and 4. Talking with a mixture of focus and intensity in his face, James looked at the practice court and was asked if the necessary ingredients to win him a fifth NBA championship were in the room.
“Yeah,” he said flatly. “Of course.”
Whether or not that belief will be rewarded in June is as much in the future as that miserable Minnesota night is in the past, but James’ recommitment to the team, to the Lakers’ new identity and to himself and his teammates has undoubtedly propelled the team to the place where it credibly believes it can be the last one standing.
James, coach JJ Redick said, got back on track in losses to Miami and Atlanta before using the Lakers’ weeklong break during the in-season tournament to deal with an ailing foot and to recalibrate his mindset.
He became one of the team’s most impactful defenders. He consistently did all the little things that lead to winning, Over the next 35 games, the Lakers won 25 times. During that stretch, James said part of his consistent effort on the defensive end was about showing his son, Bronny, what it took to win in the league.
“Your examples show better sometimes than the words,” he said on Feb. 20 after leading the Lakers to a win on the second night of back-to-back games in Portland. “So, I hope I’m in position now to do both — to be able to give him words of advice and also show him by example.”
Yet it’s been more than that, the sense that James had given himself fully to whatever the Lakers needed. When it meant ceding shots to Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves, he did that. When it meant controlling the glass with Davis out injured, he did that. And when it required moving well out of the way to make room for Luka Doncic after the Lakers stunned everyone, James included, by acquiring him, he did that.
He finished the season averaging 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists. According to basketballreference.com, it’s the 29th time since 1960 a player has averaged at least 24 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in a season. No one older than 31 other than James has ever done it, and he’s done it six times since turning that age.
And somehow, in his 22nd season, he still found ways to get better, shooting the best free-throw percentage (78.2%) of his career.
As the Lakers kept winning, as they kept showing the best teams in the West that they were capable of beating them, the resolve that the Lakers can win only got stronger.
“The belief’s there,” Redick said of James on Friday. “… I think that LeBron’s confidence, belief in himself, in his teammates, when that’s there, it empowers the group even more. So, if the rest of the guys believe it, and LeBron believes it, that really strengthens that resolve and feeling.”
James doubled-down on his role in the Lakers’ offense on Friday, simplifying any lingering questions about hierarchy now that the playoffs are here.
“Give Luka the ball,” he said. “And if we stay ready, we never gotta get ready.”
James made it clear Friday that his belief means nothing when it comes to the Lakers’ goals of winning 16 more times this season, goals that start by beating Minnesota to four wins.
“Obviously you wanna be healthy going into a postseason run,” he said. “That’s most important. And then you want to be able to have been playing at a high level for the majority of the season being in like, must-win games going down the stretch, playoff-type intensity games. And we had that.
“But at the end of the day, I can talk as much as you guys want me to talk, but the game is won in between the four lines. I don’t give a damn how much you know about a team, how much they know about you. All the talking, it’s not about that. It’s about once you get on the floor, the game is won in between the four lines.”
On Saturday, James will walk between them with his best chance to stay there until the NBA Finals since he won a ring in 2020 with the Lakers. And for a person who has come a long way in his career and who managed to come a long way this season, that’s special.
“It’s a blessing. I don’t take it for granted to be able to play in the postseason at my age and how many years I’ve played in this game,” James said. “To be one of 16 teams to go in with this team and know what we’re capable of, all you can do is ask for a chance to be able to compete at the highest level and be able to compete for the ultimate thing. And that’s the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
“You just don’t take it for granted.”
This story originally appeared on LA Times
