King James finds age brings wisdom to reign
LeBron James can talk this up as his revenge season, but it looks more like serenity now, writes Jerry Brewer.
LeBron James considers this his revenge season. Don’t believe him. That’s his ego talking and sending out sarcastic #WashedKing social media posts. In reality, his rejuvenated play – and the Los Angeles Lakers’ vault to prime NBA championship contender – is about something much more relevant than seeking petty vengeance on invisible haters.
Sure, James is motivated after receiving the ultimate humbling last season. But he is channelling it in a manner appropriate for a superstar who possesses impenetrable greatness. He is not creating his own Mamba Mentality, attempting to prove himself on every possession. Instead, he is playing the most mature brand of basketball he ever has, which is saying something because he entered the NBA out of high school almost 17 years ago with a full-grown game.
Although he claps back at those who raised legitimate questions about what he had left and whether basketball was still his priority during a train wreck of a first season in Los Angeles, James is mostly unburdened. He is known to be moody, but not so much lately. He is having fun, and not in a manufactured way. There’s a different spirit to him, perhaps because Anthony Davis is the ideal co-star, perhaps because that late-career failure taught him to appreciate success.
Revenge season? No, this is more like serenity season. For James, the ability to find this peace matters because basketball is more of a mental game for him now, less than two weeks shy of his 35th birthday. It doesn’t apply just to what he sees and thinks on the floor; he aced that test long ago. It includes his attitude and perceptions and willingness to sacrifice for his teammates. The benefits of James’s shift in mentality are apparent in his team’s performance. Entering a losing
Friday showdown with reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, the Lakers had a 24-4 record, which puts them on pace to win 70 games. They aren’t going to reach 70, but it is important to note that, of all the new coaches and superstar partnerships James has had in his capricious career, this is the only one that didn’t require considerable time to get the trust and chemistry right.
When James joined Miami in 2010 to begin the super team era, the Heat had a middling 9-8 record in their first 17 games. They recovered and made it to the NBA finals that season, but lost to Dallas. When James returned to Cleveland in 2014, he struggled early to mesh with Kyrie Irving, Kevin
Love and Coach David Blatt, and they had a crummy 19-20 record at midseason.
James is an unselfish player in the sense that he is a willing passer blessed with exceptional court vision, but he also has been a star since age 15, and that comes with a level of narcissism. He often makes the right play, but it needs to be his play. Like almost all greats, he sees the game in a special way, and it’s hard to get him to consent to a different point of view. Throw other alphas with
Hall of Fame talent into the equation, and the challenges tend to come before the dominance.
But King James seems to be letting go of some control. He has been the primary ballhandler on just about every team he has played for, but he is functioning more like a true point guard now. He is setting up Davis better than he has any other star team-mate. James entered the season intent on making Davis the focal point of the offence, and with one-third of the season complete, Davis leads the Lakers in scoring at 27.7 points per game. Of course, James is only about 1.9 points behind him, and he actually leads the team in field goal attempts, but that’s mostly because Davis has missed two games and left a couple of others early with injuries. James averages a league-best 10.6 assists, and that’s not some empty stat. It’s indicative of the fact that he is truly running the offence as it should function. Even in the 111-104 defeat to the Bucks in the battle between the NBA’s best two teams, James contributed a triple-double of 21 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. He is inspiring quality ball movement throughout the lineup.
James may be known for creating star trios, but in this duo, there’s ample room for both players to express themselves. There’s no Love or Chris Bosh taking a huge shave to make it work. And contrary to preseason skepticism, the Lakers’ role players are better than advertised. They fit well around the two superstars, and they already know their roles. There’s still room for improvement. Kyle Kuzma hasn’t produced the way he is capable of, but he is still finding his rhythm after a long recovery from a foot injury. In addition, the Lakers are an average three-point-shooting team (35.7 per cent), and with the attention Davis and James command, there is potential to be better in that area with shooters such as Kuzma, Danny Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Quinn Cook and Troy Daniels on the roster.
The most stunning development is on the defensive end, where James has ended five years of ambivalence. He looks closer to the player who made six all-defensive teams before he started to age. This is the most encouraging part of the Lakers’ early success. This is where you can tell James, who has had complicated relationships with several of his coaches, is buying into Frank Vogel’s philosophies. This is also where he is using his mind the most, playing off the versatility and rim-protecting skills of Davis and the rest of the Lakers stable of active big men.
You are witnessing the best that James, or any player, could be 1227 games (1466 counting the playoffs) into his career. Only a few have been this good in Year 17. In the 2012-13 season, Kobe Bryant averaged 27.3 points, 6.0 assists and 5.6 rebounds in 78 games at the same age, but that was his last great season. Kareem AbdulJabbar, who played four years of college, played at an elite level through Year 17, but at age 39, he handed over top dog status to Magic Johnson in his 18th season. Karl Malone was still an all-star averaging 22.4 points at the same point in his career. Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki were all still effective, but they had modified their games to play complementary roles.
History suggests that, even with James thriving, you shouldn’t forecast him maintaining his absurd high-scoring, near-triple-double productivity too far into the future. Father Time is lurking and James might be forced to reconsider his admirable stance against load management.
But there’s no need to watch the sand trickle down his hourglass. He is too busy inducing fresh awe. Everyone ages. Some grow wiser. Revenge season? Cute thought. The better story is that James, after not having to worry about limitation for all of his basketball life, is becoming self-aware and secure enough to adjust his game. His enlightened approach just might add unprecedented longevity to his greatness.
WASHINGTON POST