The Lakers beat the Thunder 129-120 to end a four-game losing streak. Ham's change of formation has brought James back to the point guard position. 40 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, shooting 13 of 20, 5 of 5 three-pointers, and 9 of 9 free throws, who dares to believe that this is a player who is about to turn 39? Before the game, James posted a message hinting that he wanted to be inducted into the Hall of Fame without retiring, and such an explosive performance may really make the Hall of Fame change the rules and give him the green light.
He hasn't played point guard for two years, and James still explodes
For Lao Zhan, the point guard may be a position that is both familiar and unfamiliar. It's familiar because James used to be a point guard with the Lakers and won the league's assist title when he played point guard in the 2019-20 season. It's strange to say that the last time James played point guard was two years ago. In neither the 2021-22 nor the 2022-23 season, James played that role again. He played point guard in 2019-20 and 2020-21, playing point guard 57 percent of the time in 2019-20 and 73 percent in 2020-21.
Prior to this game, James had played small forward 1% of the season, big forward 83% of the time, and cameo center 16% of the time. Now, back to the familiar and unfamiliar role of point guard, James has quickly adapted.
Against the Thunder, he dished out seven assists, including four in the second quarter. He also scored 40 points, and the modern point guard is no longer a simple passer, but often the team's top scorer, with strong offensive capabilities, such as the Thunder's Alexander and the Pacers' Haliburton. James kept pace with the times, and in the first game of switching to point guard, he scored and assisted a double-double, which not only revitalized the Lakers' offense, allowing the team to score 129 points, but also scored 40 points, a new high this season.
Speaking about the lineup change in this game, Lakers coach Darvin Ham said: "In the starting lineup, we go through James to attack, which is great. Overall, I'm happy with the team's movement and the ability to protect the ball. The Lakers dished out 38 assists and committed just nine turnovers.
In the 21st year of his career, James hit the most accurate season
This is already the 21st year of James' career. There are only a handful of players in history who can play for this long, and before James, they were already supporting players in the team. James is still at the heart of the team and is still extremely efficient. So far this season, James has played in 27 games, averaging 25.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game, shooting 54.4% from the field and 41.2% from three-point range. He is expected to hit the most accurate season of his career.
Prior to this season, James' most accurate shooting year of his career was in 2013-14, when he shot 56.7 percent from the field, and James is not far from that height this season. As for his three-point shooting percentage, James' previous most accurate season was 40.6 percent in 2012-13, and his three-point shooting percentage so far this season has surpassed that year, and if James can maintain it, he will set a new career high.
I have to say that James is really getting older and more demonic. As he himself said in an interview before, his opponent is the Old Man of Time, and he wants to defeat this opponent.
Should the Hall of Fame really give him the green light?
Just before this game, one of James' social media posts caused a heated discussion. He wrote: "Why do players have to retire to be in the Hall of Fame? "Many reporters and fans believe that this is a signal from James to reveal his true thoughts, which is that he wants to be inducted into the Hall of Fame before he retires and become the first player in history to do so.
NBA players are currently inducted into the Hall of Fame and must be eligible to run after four years of retirement. James is 100% qualified to be selected in the future, but does he have enough influence for the Hall of Fame to change the rules for him?
We often talk about special things, and maybe James really has a chance to be that special case. He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and is about to unlock the "411 Milestone" this season, which is also the first person in history. Even if it is difficult to be selected before retirement, it is completely possible to consider being selected as soon as possible after retirement. After all, many people think that waiting four years after retirement to be eligible for the evaluation is not a condition that in itself makes much sense.
It's debatable whether James is the GOAT (the best of all time), but there's no doubt that he's the greatest star alive and the NBA's golden name for many years. The NBA is constantly changing, such as the introduction of midseason games, and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is not immutable. Will they give the green light to James?