LeBron James is 36 years old, and with only 71 days between winning his fourth championship in the Orlando bubble and kicking off the 2020-21 season, the overwhelming expectation that the year had entered was that his workload would be carefully managed . Yet James has yet to miss a game this season, and the past three that the Lakers have played have pushed him to the extreme.
The Lakers went overtime again on Wednesday in a 114-113 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. It was their third consecutive overtime game, an achievement they could not equal in almost three decades. The Lakers went overtime in their first three games of the 1991-92 season, and just when they needed two overtimes in the first game of the series against the Houston Rockets, they needed two overtimes to beat the Detroit Pistons in the first game. this piece. Unlike that series in 1991, however, the Lakers managed to win all three of their overtime games, including two without Anthony Davis.
The Lakers have LeBron to thank for that. He has played 130 minutes in the last three games, the most he has played in a three-game series as a Laker. That even includes the post-season in 2020, when he never played 42 minutes. He has done it twice in the last two games and almost did it again on Wednesday. The Lakers allowed James to skip his scheduled media availability after the game due to the number of minutes he played.
The Lakers play the Memphis Grizzlies again next Friday. Resting him is a tricky proposition, as the match is being broadcast nationally on ESPN. They play again on ESPN on Sunday against the Denver Nuggets before returning to local cable cars against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday. It would be a wise game to let James rest, as the Timberwolves have the worst record in the NBA. Next Thursday, the Lakers play the Brooklyn Nets in one of the most anticipated games of the season, so if he has a fully equipped James, the Lakers will help the game as a proper benchmark against a possible Final opponent. use.
But James does not want to skip games at all so far this season. Whether he intends to do so remains to be seen. If he does, the choice is more than justified. He carried his team through three grueling overtime reports in a row, and he did so without his best teammate in the last two. If anyone deserves a free night, it’s him.