It is ironic that the Lakers, who were predicted by the General Manager Survey before the start of the season to have the second highest probability of winning the championship among the 30 teams in the league, did not even qualify for the playoffs; however, in terms of personal data alone, LeBron James, as the leader of the Lakers, still played a good season, averaging 30+8+6 per game, setting a new NBA record.
It has become common practice for NBA officials to invite the general managers of all 30 teams in the league to predict the new season before the start of the season, and the Lakers received the second-highest 17% vote in the survey before the start of the season on "which team will win the 2022 championship", 7 percentage points more than the third-place defending champion Bucks; but this season the Lakers' regular season goals have dropped again and again, from the initial top four in the West to the top six to hold the playoff qualifications. James ended up on the bench watching the Lakers being turned out of the playoffs.
In terms of records alone, the Lakers' season is undoubtedly a failure, and can not be used as an excuse only by injury; however, for James, even if it is a failure on the road to impacting the league's scoring king, it is still a good season in terms of personal data alone, he has played 56 games in the regular season this season, playing 11 more regular season games than last season, averaging 37.2 minutes per game, which is the first time in james's past 5 seasons that he has averaged 37+. And he also averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks per game with 52.4% shooting percentage and 35.9% three-point shooting, shooting the highest shooting rate since joining the Lakers, averaging 2.9 three-pointers per game and setting a new record for his 19-year NBA career, even 75.6% of the free throw shooting rate is the highest in his past 10 seasons.
What is the concept that a player over 37 years old can still score 30+ points per game in a single season regular season? In the long history of the NBA, no player has averaged 30+ points per game in a single season when he is over 33 years old, and the previous record for the oldest time in NBA history was 33 years old set by Stephen Curry last season, even when Michael Jordan averaged 30+ points per game in his last single season.
This is the third time in James' NBA career that he has averaged 30+ points per regular season in a single season, tied with James Harden the most among active players, tied for 8th place with Kobe Bryant, Elgin Baylor and Bob McAdow in the long NBA history, and only Aaron Iverson has averaged 30+ points per game in a single season since Michael Jordan.
James has repeatedly said publicly that he is not a scorer, and his versatility is even more terrifying, averaging 30+ points per game this season along with 8+ rebounds and 6+ assists. In the long history of the NBA, only four players have averaged 30+8+6 per game in a single season regular season, except for James, Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan and Russell Westbrook.
We don't deny james' declining dominance on the field, but he still has the ability to consistently get beautiful personal data, which is very rare for a veteran who has played 1366 regular season games at the age of 37. However, if James does not restrain his "comprehensiveness", he may not be able to win the championship again.