James making a late run at MVP
He’ll be 39 on Dec. 30, but there is no player having a better season than LeBron James, and if he continues this surge, he’ll receive serious consideration for Most Valuable Player. The oldest MVP in league history was 35-yearold Karl Malone. No player over the age of 29 has won the MVP in 19 years, when Steve Nash earned the award at 31.
But what fans are seeing in James is once in a lifetime. He’s unquestionably the best player on the Lakers, dropping 30 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists in 23 minutes in a blowout win over the Pelicans on Thursday.
While the organization initially wanted Anthony Davis to take over as the primary scorer and No. 1 option, James continues to be the team’s most consistent and reliable player. In 22 games entering Saturday’s In-Season Tournament final against the Pacers, James was averaging 25 points on 55.3 percent shooting and a career-best 40.7 percent from the 3-point line, along with 7.5 rebounds and 6.6 assists.
He’s the oldest player in the league, and he ran circles around the young Pelicans to the point of embarrassment. Zion Williamson, 16 years younger than James, was rendered helpless by the old man’s dominance.
“Without question,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said when asked if James should be considered an MVP candidate. “The way he impacts winning, what he’s doing at this stage of his career, without question. That’s a nobrainer.”
James has said repeatedly over the years that rest and taking care of his body have been essential to his longevity. He’s also healthy after years of battling nagging injuries. While not the freakish athlete of his Cleveland or Miami days, James plays with a high basketball IQ, and he has learned to conserve energy to play extended minutes, and has maintained a similar impact from his younger days.
“First and foremost, I’ve said it time and time again, just the way he takes care of himself,” Ham said. “You have to start there. Like, what you pour into your body, the resources you pour into your body, and not just during the season, but it’s a year-round thing for him.
“It’s basically a way of life at this point, from his nutrition, his sleeping habits, his exercises, his stretching methods, weightlifting, all of that. It allows him to still perform at peak level. Really efficient with how we do our business from day to day. Our regimen helps. But all of the resources he pours into himself to make sure he’s not only available, but available at the highest level.”
Davis was tabbed to eventually inherit the reins from James, but he’s content to be the No. 2 option. He’s been reliable and healthy this season, making for one of the league’s best duos.
“I’m a simple guy, so I just think of one word, extraordinary, otherworldly,” Ham said. “That’s two, I know. But no, he is the ultimate tone-setter. Like for him, to go out from the start, just everything, from our meeting to our walkthrough, everything, his communication, helping guys visually see what game plan we were trying to execute. And we were able to execute. His energy, him sacrificing his body, three charges. He set the tone for us on both ends of the basketball court, and his teammates just follow suit. It’s a huge blessing to have that working in your favor and to be on the same side as that.”
James took three charges in the first half against the Pelicans. His teammates feed off his enthusiasm and professionalism.
“Trying to lead by example, make plays on the floor, be unselfish,” James said. “Try to make the right plays offensively, defensively, cover for my teammates, and live with the results. I think we’re starting to figure it out. You know, you guys have been asking me over the last couple months, what do you think about the team and what do I think we can be? My answer was realistic, we don’t know because we haven’t had our team.”
The Lakers have proven to be a different team at home (or Las Vegas) than on the road. They are 4-7 in true road games but have won 11 of the last 15 overall, getting players such as Rui Hachimura, Cam Reddish, and Jarred Vanderbilt back from injury, making for a formidable contender in the Western Conference.
“We are starting to see what our team looks like,” said James. “We know who we are going to be playing with out on the floor. Guys are feeling in a really good rhythm offensively and defensively. It definitely helps, being able to log minutes with different lineups and things of that nature, so that you kind of know what you’re going to flow into offensively and you know what you’re going to do defensively. It helps a lot.”
Meanwhile, the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton, also 16 years James’s junior, paid homage to one of the all-time greats and his idol.
“Like any kid born in 2000, LeBron was my favorite player growing up, and it’s hard for him not to be for a lot of us,” Haliburton said. “Growing up, I was a Cavs fan, then a Heat fan, then a Cavs fan again, then a Lakers fan before I got drafted. It’s just how it went. To be able to compete against him in a championship is kind of like a storybook a little bit, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.
“But that’s the great part about being in the NBA is getting to compete against your idols on a nightly basis. I really look forward to that.”
Layups
The Bulls will be without former AllStar Zach LaVine as he recovers from a foot injury that especially hampered him in a loss to the Celtics last month. LaVine has been the subject of trade rumors for years and the Bulls have been successful of late with him out of the lineup. LaVine professed his dedication to the Bulls in a meeting with Chicago reporters, saying his injury is not some form of protest or trade demand, and that he wants to continue his career in Chicago. Billy Donovan’s job appears to be safe as coach, but the Bulls could make significant moves in the coming weeks in an attempt to change the team’s culture . . . With the In-Season Tournament being in Las Vegas, commissioner Adam Silver and many players have been asked about the possibility of an NBA team in Sin City. It’s a possibility, as the NBA ponders expanding to 32 teams once the new television contract is signed. There is speculation that the contract will include new media outlets, potentially Amazon Prime, Apple TV, NBC, or even CBS. If you recall, CBS broadcast the NBA for 20-plus years in the 1970s and ’80s, before ending the contract to broadcast Major League Baseball games. That ended up being a mistake, as CBS relinquished its rights simultaneously to the rise of Michael Jordan. NBC benefited from that rise but relinquished its rights in 2002 after more than a decade. Meanwhile, James was drafted a year later, and the rest is history. ABC/ESPN has helped the league flourish the past two decades after there was great concern about how the NBA would manage after Jordan’s retirement. The NBA is expected to add Las Vegas and Seattle as expansion teams after the television agreement, and while Silver won’t confirm those cities, the league’s constant flirtation with Las Vegas and the fact it chose the city to host the In-Season Tournament at T-Mobile Arena is an indication that Vegas is in the league’s sights. There is also a perception the NBA owes Seattle after allowing the SuperSonics to move to Oklahoma City in 2008 after the city essentially botched the trial that would have forced team owners to stay in Seattle until 2010.
The city settled the case, allowing the Sonics to become the Thunder, and the NBA has regretted leaving such an attractive market.