LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers turned 38 years old on December 30 and as a way to celebrate he scored 47 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists in a big win against the Atlanta Hawks.
Putting up those sorts of numbers is amazing but especially at the age he is now.
But James wasn’t done: on Monday night, James put up 43 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists in another win against the Charlotte Hornets.
LeBron tonight:
43 PTS
11 REB
6 AST
16-26 FGAveraging 45/11 since turning 38. pic.twitter.com/S08SQ6Ps9m
— StatMuse (@statmuse) January 3, 2023
Since turning 38, James has been averaging 45 points and 11 rebounds.
This is just downright incredible and so rarely seen in the league.
In fact, only two players in the history of the NBA have recorded back-to-back games with 40+ points at 35 years or older: Michael Jordan and now James.
With all of these numbers and the records James has been breaking, it’s all the more disappointing to see the Lakers continue to come up short.
Within the next few weeks, James will surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time point leader in the NBA, which will be yet another massive accomplishment.
But where will the Lakers be when the season comes to an end?
They have a lot of work to do if they wish to reach the playoffs or even the play-in.
If they fail to do that, that will mark the second year in a row that they didn’t get to the postseason.
That will be a huge letdown to fans but it’ll be even more painful because James is playing like a man who is beating back Father Time again and again.
No matter how the Lakers do, James is playing tremendous basketball nightly.
We have never seen a man of his age play as he has been – and he is showing little signs of slowing down as 2023 begins.
NEXT: Controversial Lakers Star May Be Turning Things Around