LeBron James sat at his locker – having just scored 30 points in 33 minutes to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat the New Orleans Pelicans – when the subject of his availability to play the next night in San Antonio came up.
"Every back-to-back, for the rest of the season, it’s TBD [to be determined],” James said.
"I’m 41. I’ve got the most minutes in NBA history,” James continued with an incredulous grin. “Bank it right now, OK? What are we talking about?”
It’s just that sometimes James – the league’s all-time leading scorer – can still play with the type of vigor and effectiveness that makes him seem younger and more durable than he did while sitting out this season’s first 14 games with sciatica.
James was in dominant form in a 111-103 victory at New Orleans, dunking just 19 seconds into the game and hitting deep three-pointers to ignite a decisive to open the fourth quarter.
It was the second time in three games that James had scored at least 30.
Coach JJ Redick said he won’t necessarily expect that kind of production from James on a regular basis, but he doesn’t want to put limits on the prolific superstar who is on his 23rd season in the league.
"I know LeBron. I know how much he puts into this. It’s just recognizing, game to game, what he has,” Redick said, comparing James to Hall-of-Fame Major League Baseball pitcher Greg Maddux during the final years of his career.
"Every night, he doesn’t have his best stuff, but he has enough to win,” Redick added. “I’m his catcher and I’ve got to figure it out what’s the best way to utilize him.”
James said he considers Luka Doncic to be the Lakers’ premier player now and that it’s up to him and the rest of his teammates “to bend our game around him and figure it out.”
James said that he’s not looking to take too many games off when he doesn’t know how many more he’ll play before his time to retire comes.
And Redick will keep trying to get the best out of him – without wearing him out. “To me, what he’s doing at 41 ... it’s greatness,” the coach said. “It’s just a different form of greatness.”
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