“Passing greats in losing efforts is never been a DNA of mine,” LeBron James unsettled over Lakers’ 2022-23 Season failures
LeBron James puts getting Lakers' season back on track as a higher priority than scoring title.
Follow Us
LeBron James
LeBron James has been one of the most successful basketball players of all time. However, even he can’t escape the disappointment of losing. In a recent interview, LeBron expressed his frustration over the Los Angeles Lakers struggles during the 2022-23 season. For him, the team struggles take precedence and overshadow the personal milestones he has achieved/will achieve this season.
In an interview with ESPN, LeBron James had this to say, “So as we sit here right now as a franchise and as a team that’s below .500 – we’ve been playing some good basketball as of late, but we want to and I want to win at the highest level. Breaking records or setting records or passing greats in a losing effort has never been a DNA of mine.”
Accusations of stat-padding have been made against the King in his pursuit of the record. Some of LeBron James’ critics have argued that his pursuit of the record is a distraction from the Lakers’ greater goal of winning the championship. Skip Bayless, for example, criticized James for his single-minded focus on breaking the record while neglecting to devote his full energy to the team back in December.
LeBron has had a wildly successful career with almost all of it being spent on teams fighting at the top of conferences as title contenders. And so, being on a sub .500 team these last two seasons is uncharted territory for The Chosen One.
Related: “I have not set out to do that,” LeBron James talks about the All-Time scoring record
LeBron James is poised to break the scoring record in the next month
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sits at 38,387, LeBron James at 37928, and counting, only 459 more points to go. James has a career ppg of 27.2. This season, he’s scoring above that mark at 28.9 points per game. Projecting at either number, the date with destiny for James lies somewhere in the second week of February, according to an infographic shown before the Lakers-Hawks game.
The fact that LeBron will break Kareem’s NBA record in over 100 fewer games, is a testament to his sustained scoring. For 20 seasons he has been able to perform around his career average of 27.2, unlike Kareem. Micah Adams of The Sporting News compared the scoring pattern of the two greats by breaking their point totals into chunks of 10,000 (regular season + playoffs).
James led the Lakers to a 130-114 win over the Hawks with a 25-point, 10-assist double-double in what was Los Angeles’ 4th straight win. The momentum needs to continue and LeBron’s comments indicate that that is his top priority. He is 14-18 games away from breaking Kareem’s record and the hope is that the Lakers get their head above water so the King can savor his crowning moment.
In case you missed it:
LeBron James leads the Lakers past the Atlanta Hawks for their 4th consecutive win
Do follow us on Google News | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Stay Updated!
Rakibul John Rodgers
(1258 Articles Published)