LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers is in his 21st NBA season and shows no signs of slowing down.
James has averaged 23 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 7.3 assists in the Lakers’ first three games, while shooting 57.1% from the field. He had 27 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists in Sunday’s loss to the Sacramento Kings, becoming the first Lakers duo since Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in 2002 to have at least 25 points and 15 rebounds in the same game.
Sunday night, however, was extra special for James because it marked the 20th anniversary of his NBA debut, which happened to take place in the same city of Sacramento.
After the game, James talked about how cool it was to be back in Sacramento and still playing all these years later, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“It’s pretty cool. When you look at to the date, actual to the date of Oct. 29, it’s been 20 years since the start of my career. Being here in Sac, obviously it was Arco Arena at the time, but still a lot of memories. It’s pretty special. Pretty special that I’m still doing it, still playing the game that I love and it’s been a long journey.”
LeBron also took to social media to commemorate the occasion, posting a photo of his fourth-quarter breakaway dunk alongside a photo from 20 years ago:
It’s easy to take James for granted, but what he’s accomplished in his 21st season is nothing short of incredible. He would later compare his Sunday night dunk to one from 20 years ago:
“Any moment that you get where you came back to where [it started], for me I was an 18 year old kid playing the game that I love. The dream coming true for me to be on an NBA floor and play in a regular season game, to have a breakaway, the one 20 years ago obviously came off a steal, a reverse pass and I was able to play the pass lane and get the reverse pass. Tonight it was off a tip off an offensive rebound and I was able to take it and slam it home. So some pretty cool correlation, for sure.
Despite considering retirement over the summer, James decided to return for his 21st season. It’s clear that he still has a lot left in the tank, but if the Lakers want to make his decision worthwhile, others will need to start stepping up to avoid a tough overtime loss like the one they suffered when LeBron returned to Sacramento on Sunday night.
Darvin Ham digging in to figure out better rotations
Poor lineup construction has been a problem for the Lakers so far this season. Darvin Ham, the Kings’ head coach, recognizes this, saying after the loss that he will watch film to figure out better rotations moving forward.
Leave a Reply