[Star] James vs Grizzlies Highlights 37 years old birthday night and slashed 37 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists
On October 30, 2003, Sacramento Arco Arena, cavaliers vs. kings, 8 minutes and 56 seconds before the end of the first quarter, James hit a jumper on the right side of the bottom line, this is the 19-year-old, the first time in his NBA career to fill in his own data in the game scoring column, 6636 days have passed.
On December 30, 2021, at FedEx Arena in Memphis, the Lakers against the Grizzlies, James scored 37 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists, scoring 30+ in six consecutive games for the first time since February 2013, and James reached 36,038 in his NBA career.
This day is James's 37th birthday.
From 2003 to 2021, from 19 to 37 years old, from the first two points, to the breakthrough of 36,000 points, running to 37,000 points, James has come all the way to fulfill expectations, face challenges, cut through thorns,
Turning the clock back 18 years, James made his NBA debut with 25 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals, and NBA legend Reed Auerbach, who watched the game, said: "This kid is really worthy of the name. ”
From the third year of high school on the cover of Sports Illustrated, James has been surrounded by ever-expanding expectations, he should become the first high school student in the United States, should be a champion, should be an All-Star, should be an epoch-making basketball giant.
To this day, looking back at these achievement levels set for James, he has opened them one by one and lived up to expectations.
In the history of basketball, there are not many talented teenagers who carry expectations, but there are too many hours, big is not necessarily good, talent is rudder, hard work is paddle, self-discipline is sail, and none of them can be chopped in the basketball ocean for long-distance voyages.
James can still average 27+7+7 per game at the age of 37, the only player in NBA history who has averaged 27+ points per game at the age of 35 or above, which is not a sentence of talent that can be completely explained.
No one can violate the laws of nature, James's absolute athletic ability and physical condition are no better than they were then, he has been difficult to do throughout the whole field to attack and defend the two ends of the 100% investment, need to find a gap in the game to slow themselves down.
Years will always take away what it has to take away on time, and the so-called career evergreen is self-adjustment to adapt to change. James remodeled his body through training during the offseason, while at the same time strengthening the three-point shooting to match the unsmooth style of Westbrook's mid-range shooting, he averaged 2.7 shots from 7.5 three-pointers per game this season, all of which were career highs, 3.3 of the 7.5 three-point shots were received and shot, and 39% of the three-point shots shots were from Westbrook's assists.
Against the Grizzlies, James shot 8-of-14 from three-point range, which was a new high for The Old Jen's single-game three-point shooting this season, and on his 37th birthday, one by one, three-pointers went through the net, which was a birthday cake to pay tribute to hard work, engraved with "Kung Fu Pays Off."
James has spent most of his career as a "star" in a one-star shooting, and at the age of 37, he has to cooperate with the habits of his teammates and switch to the role of shooter at any time, which is a big change.
"It's amazing that LeBron was able to adjust his game skills at this stage of his career," Lakers head coach Vogel said, "and he adapted to the needs of the game and trained himself into a prolific and efficient three-point shooter." You'd be amazed at how he did it, because early in his career, three-pointers weren't one of his strongest skills. ”
Not only the technology, James even the position is changing, after the thick eyebrow brother injury stop, James became a full-time Center of the Lakers, according to the game alignment can directly start the fifth position, which is also unprecedented, he has to have the ball and no ball tactics on call, in the high and low positions, to block the demolition, to protect the basket. "Magician" set an all-round precedent from one to five, but "Magician" is not a very good pitcher, and today James is really a player who has played all five positions on the court and can do it.
"I've never officially played center before, it's the first time A starting center, I was skinny as a kid, I wasn't the tallest guy on the team when I grew up, I always played forward, or possession," James said.
A 37-year-old veteran, in his 19th season, is still tapping into his potential, and time has taken some of his innate basketball talent, but he has added something new to his game. All will be the losers of the Old Man of Time, but James is still not convinced of losing.
"LeBron set a benchmark for us in terms of staying on top." Curry said.
This season's Lakers, struggling in the predicament, Wei Shao's style of play and the matching of the team system, the thick eyebrow brother was pushed to the fifth position after being injured and truce, always unable to empty the injury list, triggering the health and safety agreement isolation, the regular season has been close to halfway, the Lakers have not even a stable rotation lineup has not been determined, the starting lineup is also changing again and again, the manpower is uneven, the tacit understanding is insufficient, directly acting on the Lakers' team attack and defense, the offense lacks chemical reaction, the defense has no continuity, the large lineup defense is difficult, the small lineup guard basket suffers, The attack is not weak and the defense is not strong, and the Lakers' net average offensive and defensive efficiency per game ranks 22nd in the league.
James also experienced twists and turns, sore ankles, abdominal strains, suspensions, false positives, and he had to fight the marks left on his body by the years and wrestle with the mud that the team had fallen into. At the beginning of the season, the Lakers set an average of 34 minutes per game for James, but in reality this number is 37 minutes, ranking second in the league, and the last time he averaged 37 minutes per game was in the 2016-17 season.
The lakers' sluggish status quo and the high load brought about by the team's extreme use of James have caused rumors to spread, and agent Rich Paul is needed to refute the rumors, saying that James will not leave.
James isn't leaving, but what are the Lakers going to do next? The Athletic's reporter Bill Oram wrote an article analyzing the Lakers' situation, giving the following headline: "If the Lakers can only stand still, they are failing James's efforts." ”
In the battle against the Grizzlies, the Lakers led by 14 points at most, but eventually lost 5 points 99-104. The Grizzlies' size and vitality have prevented the Lakers from turning their advantages into victories, which is a portrayal of the Lakers this season, they can play well at a certain time of the game, but they can't continue the good performance as a whole, even if James is strong personally.
In the last 6 games, James averaged 34.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game, shooting 57% from the field and 40% from three-point range, and he played a full-strength Zhan-level game output, but the Lakers lost 5 games in 6 games.
The Lakers are like in a long tunnel, the eyes are full of darkness, they need to chisel out the light that can see hope, this responsibility is on James's shoulders, in case of indecision to find old Zhan, this is a habit formed since 2003, although the Lakers are very bad, but there is Still hope for James.
Because stars are often there, but James is rare.
In NBA history, James is a very unique player, he turned excellence into a kind of deserved, when the old Zhan career total score exceeded the 36,000 mark, after taking over a series of first-person records from 27,000+7000+7000 to 36,000+9000+9000, both the media and fans reacted flatly, although only three people in NBA history have 36,000 points, but because he is James, he was set as the son of basketball's natural choice since he was a teenager. Whatever you achieve in the game seems to be taken for granted.
Turning the inconceivable into a matter of course may be one way to define great players.
James, who crossed the threshold of 37 years old, is 890 points away from Carl Malone on the NBA's all-time scoring list, which will be a milestone on his way to 37,000 points, and when he surpasses Malone and becomes the second Mr. 37,000 in NBA history, the next stop is Abdul-Jabbar's 38,387 points record. And then, the first 40,000+10,000+10,000 player in history?
Whether James can achieve these goals one by one, there is no answer, but if anyone can do it, it must be James.
Years are like running arrows, and the masters cherish time. Living up to the years is the best effort, and hard work is the best self, even if there are many difficulties, there is also a poor and strong, do not fall into the ambition of the clouds.
James, 37, that's it.