The Los Angeles Lakers played without half of their rotation on Thursday against the Golden State Warriors. Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves, Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes all sat, but none were necessary for the Lakers to pull out a victory that kept them in the hunt for the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed. All they needed was for LeBron James to put on his purple and gold cape and play superhero in a must-win game.
James barely missed out on a triple-double with 26 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. It’s his second near miss of the past week, as he racked up 30 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. These are stat lines most players never put up once in their career. With so many key players out for the Lakers, it’s what James has to do as a 41-year-old.
It’s a role that feels awfully familiar to the four-time MVP. When asked after the game what the shorthanded Lakers need from him, James responded succinctly. “Everything,” James said. “Everything, so nothing changes for me. Just back to the old ways.”
James spent his career lifting up under-manned teams like this. Whether that meant winning 60 games on rosters without co-stars or playing through the 2015 NBA Finals with his two best teammates hurt, James is no stranger to the “everything” role. It just wasn’t what he or the Lakers likely envisioned out of this season.
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They played their best basketball in March, losing just twice across a month, with James taking a drastically reduced role. The counting stats were mostly still there, but the underlying workload was not. Tracking data showed that James touched the ball less, and when he had it, he didn’t hold it as long or dribble as often. Most of his points came in transition, and he leads the NBA in fast-break points this season. In the half-court, he deferred to Dončić and Reaves. That was how the Lakers were built. Three high-octane shot-creators, one of whom would need to pace himself in his 40s so he could still dominate in the postseason.
James can’t pace himself now. It would take a minor medical miracle for Dončić to return from his Grade 2 hamstring strain in the first round of the playoffs (which starts next weekend), and he’s reportedly seeking one out in Spain. Reaves’ projected timeline would also keep him out at least that long. James is the last star standing, and that means any remote hope the Lakers have of survival rests on him doing, in his own words, “everything.” He has to be the leading scorer, the leading playmaker and a reliable defender. He has to be the sun around which what remains of this team revolves.
It feels almost fitting. As we near the end of his career, he now needs to return to the role he held in the beginning. He’s back to the old ways, dealing with a roster ill-suited for the playoff series he is about to try to drag them through.
