The data doesn't lie|James truce Lakers have a higher winning rate, thick eyebrows finally have the ability to be the boss?

The Lakers narrowly defeated the Bucks in double overtime, with 34 points and 23 rebounds under thick eyebrows, and James, who missed the game due to injury, became a topic of conversation. Let's take a look at two data first-

1. In the games James has missed so far this season, the Lakers are 6-4, with a winning rate of 60%, while James has played games so far this season (before the Grizzlies), the Lakers are 34-28, with a winning rate of 54.8%. In the games he was off, the Lakers had a better chance of winning.

2. For the first time since 2012-13, James' team has a win percentage of more than 50 percent in his absence.

While 10 matches is not a large sample of data, some trends can be seen in it. After all, James is 39 years old, and does the thick eyebrows finally have the ability to take over and become the boss of the Lakers in the real sense?

The Lakers are gradually reducing their reliance on James

Since James joined the Lakers, his importance to this team is self-evident, and in the past 5 seasons, the Lakers have not won as many games as he has played in the games James has missed-

In the 2018-19 season, James played in 55 games, and the Lakers went 28-27, a winning rate of 50.9%, while in the 27 games he missed, the Lakers won 9-18, a winning rate of 33.3%.

In the 2019-20 season, James played in 67 games, and the Lakers won 50-17, with a winning rate of 74.6%, while in the four games he missed, the Lakers won 2-2, with a winning rate of 50%.

In the 2020-21 season, James played in 45 games, and the Lakers won 30-15, a winning rate of 66.7%, while in the 27 games he missed, the Lakers won 12-15, a winning rate of 44.4%.

In the 2021-22 season, James played in 56 games, and the Lakers won 25-31, a winning rate of 44.6%, while in the 26 games he missed, the Lakers won 8-18, a winning rate of 30.8%.

In the 2022-23 season, James played in 55 games, and the Lakers went 30-25, with a winning rate of 54.5%, while in the 27 games he missed, the Lakers won 13-14, with a winning rate of 48.1%

It is worth mentioning that Thick Eyebrows joined the Lakers in the 2019-20 season, and after Thick Eyebrows joined, the Lakers' dependence on James has been declining year by year in the past four years, which is reflected in the gap between the winning percentage of James missing games and the winning percentage of playing games is decreasing year by year. In 2019-20, the difference in win rate between the two was 24.6%, in 2020-21 it was 22.3%, in 2021-22 it dropped to 13.8%, and in 2022-23 it was only 6.4%.

As mentioned above, James has missed a higher percentage of games (60%) so far this season than he has played (54.8%), the first time this has happened in his Lakers career. Although James has done many things in Season 21 that other players can't do in Season 21, and has still played amazing numbers, his influence on the Lakers' wins and losses is indeed declining.

Thick eyebrows are finally ready to take over

The 34 points and 23 rebounds in the game against the Bucks are the epitome of thick eyebrows' recent form. He played at a dominant level and was named last week's Western Conference Player of the Week. The data shows that after the All-Star weekend, the number of rebounds, blocks, and double-doubles ranked second in the league in the same period, and the number of saved shots and defensive three-point scores ranked first in the league in the same period.

Even more surprising is his attendance this season. At the beginning of the season, Thick Eyebrows boasted that he would play a full 82 games, which was ridiculed by many people, after all, Thick Eyebrows has a serious injury history and will miss many games every season. However, his fitness has improved significantly this season. He can finally spend more time on the field.

In the Lakers' last 100 games (including the playoffs), Bush has played 96 of them. So far this season, Bushy Eyebrow has played 2,438 minutes, ranking fifth in the league. He ranked No. 1 in minutes played by the Lakers this season, and he played a career-high 52 minutes against the Bucks in double overtime.

If you had been a season ago, you would have never imagined that they would come from a player like Thick Eyebrows who was labeled as a "glass man". When will Thick Eyebrows become a qualified successor to James?

The post-James era of the Lakers

The Lakers certainly hope that James can play with the team until retirement, but they also have to face the possibility of James changing teams in the future. After all, Bronny's entry into the league may have a big impact on James' selection.

However, with the rise of Bush and other players, the Lakers' worries about James' departure may be a little less. In the 10 games James missed this season, the Lakers defeated the Celtics, the league's No. 1 team, and beat the Eastern Conference powerhouse Bucks twice. The data shows that in these three high-value victories, the Lakers' thick eyebrows, Reaves and Russell played well: thick eyebrows averaged 28 points, 18 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, Russell averaged 29.7 points, 7 rebounds and 11.7 assists per game, and Reaves averaged 26.3 points, 7 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game.

Sooner or later, the Lakers' post-James era will come, and judging by what has happened this season, Bushy Eyebrow and the rest of the players are gradually ready to take on more important roles.