NBA hot figures: James beat Harden and was elected, what kind of legend can be created the older you get?

Tencent News Sports launched the NBA Hot People List, and the results of the second phase of the selection have been released. According to the comprehensive consideration of the players' personal performance, team performance, topicality and influence in the past two weeks, as well as two rounds of voting by Tencent News netizens, Tencent News Sports Editorial Department and guests of "Three-Person Basketball", James finally defeated Harden 9-8 and was successfully elected as the NBA's hot figure in this issue.

【Selection Rules】

Based on the NBA's individual performance, team performance, and topicality in the past two weeks, the most popular players are selected to become the first round of candidates.

In the first round of voting, Tencent News netizens voted for the first round of candidates, and the top three players with the highest number of votes were promoted to become the second round of candidates.

In the second round of voting, Tencent News Sports Editorial Department voted, and each person was counted as one vote. The votes of the three guests of "Three-person Basket Question" are counted as two votes each. The player with the highest total votes in the second round became the hottest person in the NBA this issue.

【Voting Process】

First round of voting

In the past two weeks, there have been seven players who have been shortlisted for the first round, namely Harden, Jalen Green, Curry, Zion, Jokic, James, and Dream Green. According to the voting results of Tencent netizens, the top three players with the most votes are James (43.26%), Harden (19.89%), and Jalen Green (17.93%), who successfully entered the second round of voting.

Second round of voting

The 39-year-old James led the Lakers to 9 wins in nearly 10 games, successfully opened the "Northern Expedition" mode and rose to eighth in the West, creating the highest ranking of the Lakers in the last 100 days, and also saw the hope of counterattacking and impacting the top six in the West. James' continued stable performance has become the key to leading the team's counterattack, especially in the game against the Nets, James scored 40 points on 9-of-10 three-pointers, and once again proved himself with his immortal performance. James, who is off the court, also followed Kobe's example and opened his own podcast to lay out the future to attract attention.

The Clippers had an up-and-down record in the regular season, and in addition to Leonard's injury again, Harden's sleepwalking performance was also a significant factor. Harden has only scored 20+ points in one of the last 14 games, and once scored only 6 points in two consecutive games, and Harden is also a laggard on the defensive end. However, Harden revealed through a podcast that he wanted to come to China to play in the CBA after leaving the NBA, but was ridiculed by netizens, "I want to come to the live broadcast to bring goods!"

Jalen Green was previously elected as the first NBA hot person launched by Tencent News Sports, and he led the Rockets to a crazy 11-game winning streak to chase the Warriors, but then led the team into a losing streak and failed to continue the magic. After Jalen Green was elected Weekly Winner, his personal form has declined, scoring less than 15 points twice in the last four games, and his hip pull has become the key to the Rockets' fall.

According to the Tencent News Sports newsroom vote, Harden received 8 votes, Jalen Green received 1 vote, and James received 3 votes.

The three guests voted for "Three-Man Basketball", and they all chose James, and according to the rules, their one vote counts as two votes.

Comprehensive news sports editorial department and "three-person basket" guest voting results summary, James received 3 votes + 6 votes for a total of 9 votes, Harden received 8 votes, Jalen Green received 1 vote, James votes 9-8 counterattack to beat Harden, James was successfully elected as the hottest person in the second issue.

【Hottest Characters】

NBA Record Crazy Reaper

Although James has yet to leap over Jordan's "highest mountain in history", as the "longest river in history", James' greatness also needs no elaboration. What's more, James is still in top competitive condition in the 21st season of his career, he has led the Lakers to win 9 of the last 10 games, and has risen to eighth in the West to see the hope of hitting the top six in the West.

James led the Lakers on a comeback with his excellent offensive and passing performances, especially in the Lakers' 116-104 win over the Nets on April 1. James' three-point shooting of 9 of 10 was like a magical night of "Curry's possession", and he led the team to win with 40+7+5 super data, which made people see that his sword is not old.

James's 9 three-pointers once again started the crazy record harvesting mode:

1. James became the first player in Lakers history to hit at least 9 three-pointers with a 90% three-point shooting rate.

2. James became the second player in Lakers history to hit at least 9 three-pointers in multiple games, the other being Kobe Bryant.

3. James tied his career single-game record with 9 three-pointers, and the other time was against the Clippers in January 2023, when he also hit 9 three-pointers.

4. James hit 9 three-pointers in a single game twice after he was 38 years old, while all the other players in NBA history hit 0 games after he was 36 years old.

5. NBA history 21st season player single-game three-point shooting record:

James made 9 three-pointers

Nowitzki made five three-pointers

Carter made four three-pointers

Garnett 1 3-pointer

6. James played 37 minutes in the game, shooting 13 of 17, 9 of 10 three-pointers, plus 5 of 6 free throws, and scored 40 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. James' true shooting percentage of 101.8% is a career-high.

7. The 19-year-old James scored 41 points in the home game on March 27, 2004, and the 39-year-old James scored 40 points in the away game against the Nets on March 31, 2024, 20 years and 4 days apart.

8. After James became Jordan, the second player in history to score 40+ points in a single game at the age of 39 and older, Jordan 3 games, James 2 games.

9. James scored 30+ points in a single game a total of 672 times in the regular season and playoffs, surpassing Jordan 671 times to rank first in history.

Season 21 three-point, the older you get, the more demonic you are

James' god-level 9-of-10 three-point performance against the Nets is just the epitome of his excellent three-point performance this season. In James' past career, especially in his early career, his lack of outside shooting was a widely criticized shortcoming. It's just that in the "three-point era", the hard-working James has never stopped improving, and he is constantly upgrading his skill set, and now the three-point has become James' conventional weapon.

You must know that James' highest three-point shooting percentage in his Lakers career in the past was 36.5% in the 2020-21 season. As for last season, James' three-point shooting rate was only 32.1%, and in the playoffs, it was as low as 26.4%.

James' three-point shooting rate this season has reached 41.3%, a new career high, showing a "reverse growth" trend. James' career-high three-point shooting percentage was 40.6 percent in 2012-13, when James averaged 3.3 three-pointers per game and 5.2 three-pointers per game this season. James not only improved his three-point shots, but also improved his three-point shooting percentage, which is naturally extremely rare.

Compared with the league's super guards this season, James' 41.3% three-point shooting rate is still quite good, as follows:

James 41.3%

Owen 41.1%

Curry40.3%

Clay 38.3%

Doncic38.2%

Harden38.1%

As for the NBA's oldest players who have a single-season three-point shooting rate of 40%+, they are both 39-year-old James and Nowitzki (at least 300 shots):

1. James - 39 years old - 23-24 season - 41.3%

2. Nowitzki - 39 years old - 17-18 season - 40.9%

3. Reggie Miller - 38 years old - 03-04 season - 40.1%

4. Ray Allen - 37 years old - 12-13 season - 41.9%

5. Conley - 36 years old - 23-24 season - 43.7%

led the Lakers Northern Expedition to win the championship again

When James fully upgrades his three-point skill set, his ultimate goal is still to lead the Lakers to a championship. Last season, James led the Lakers to the opening 2-10 losses, with only a 1 in 1,000 probability of advancing to the playoffs, and led the team all the way to the Western Conference finals, but unfortunately lost to the eventual champion Nuggets.

This season, the Lakers also struggled to rank fourth from the bottom in the West, and James is leading the team to quietly "go on the Northern Expedition". Recently, James led the Lakers to 9 wins in 10 games, ranking first in the league in the same period, and also helped the Lakers finally rise one place in the rankings and return to eighth in the West after 100 days.

After the Lakers lost 122-138 to the Hawks on January 31, James once posted an hourglass emoji through social media, which caused a lot of speculation from the outside world, but he himself refused to explain the meaning of the hourglass. James was reluctant to engage in a battle of words, but after his hourglass expression, he led the Lakers to a 21-8 record, tying the Mavericks for the first record in the West during the same period.

The 39-year-old James has not given up on the pursuit of a championship, and his current focus is naturally to lead the Lakers to the top six in the West. The Lakers are currently temporarily surpassing the Kings to move up to eighth in the West, only half a win away from the Pelicans in the previous place, only 1.5 wins away from the Suns in sixth place in the West, and with four games left, the Lakers are not without the possibility of counterattacking the top six in the West and going straight to the playoffs.

James is still diligently seeking to lead the Lakers to the championship again, even if the outside world is not too optimistic about James and the Lakers, but it is man-made, maybe a miracle will happen. James has won 4 championships in his current career, even if he is generally recognized as the second person in history, but he is still 2 crowns away from Jordan, the first person in history, and it is also the source of James's reluctance to give up moving forward.

Play with podcasts for the future

When James continued to write legends on the field, James also did a "big thing" off the court. James' new podcast with retired sharpshooter Redick, Mind the Game, has officially launched on March 19.

James followed the example of Kobe Bryant in the past to open a podcast, and naturally kept up with the trend of the new media era. "Mind the Game" revolves around various basketball topics, and James also advertises his wine business on the show, intentionally or unintentionally, which can be regarded as a "foreshadowing" laid by James for the future layout.

The 39-year-old James is not old, but the indisputable fact is that he has entered the twilight of his career, and retirement is an unavoidable topic. James has a huge business empire off the field, and entering new media must be an indispensable part of it, and it is also expected that James will write a legend in other fields after retiring.

(Text/Drunken Sleeping)