It makes sense that here in Los Angeles, the only real power that has the power to temporarily freeze and silence all the chaos LeBron James’ team is creating is actually a brilliant move by LeBron James.
This season, the Lakers have had a monotonous basketball buzz — a low-frequency frustration emanating from so much mediocrity and anxiety: Russell Westbrook drama. Anthony Davis is now past tense but still far-reaching injuries. Future first-round picks that may or may not be traded. LeBron’s constant, passive-aggressive attempts to force his team’s hand in the matter prompted a slam from a rival GM on CBS Sports, “Everyone knows he wants those picks traded for help — He should do what anyone would do and have the courage to do it and speak up.”
With a 24-28 record and 13th place in the competitive Western Conference, the LeBron-led Lakers are a team of possibilities — like many others in the lottery, playoffs. Or teams switching back and forth between going straight to the playoffs — surrounded by noise James King’s performance was below his so-called Royals standard.
But that sound, at least for a moment, is about to stop. Because LeBron’s lifelong pursuit of Michael Jordan is about to get a boost by chasing another all-time great.
With just 89 points from now, you know for sure that LeBron is going to be the leading scorer in NBA history. That moment would transform the Lakers from a disappointing team to one that once again reached out and touched the cusp of basketball greatness.
For at least one night, mediocrity will give way to bravado. Frustrated with the holidays. A feeling of mediocrity at best in exchange for real, well-deserved basketball glory.
Will there be enough freedom from anxiety — enough joy and positivity — between now and the end of the season to spark a Lakers revival and run? perhaps. Maybe not. An NBA championship may not follow.
But a reminder of a feeling — the purple and gold sitting at the center of the basketball universe, the game’s most watched team once again emanating from downtown Los Angeles, the entire NBA turning its often weary and envious eyes on the Lakers — Will surge again, even if temporarily.
Of course it’s cool to win. But so was watching the Lakers greats take sporting history into their hands.
Casual but confident, Lakers sources speculate that no matter what happens, LeBron will and always will break that record with No. 33 under the rafters. At his current scoring rate, he’s now on track to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record 38,387 points at home next week.
Those inside the Lakers organization will be hoping their star scores enough points in the next two road games in Indiana and New Orleans to ensure Kareem’s scoring is overshadowed next Tuesday at home against Oklahoma City, or — more likely — two days later in a nationally televised game against Milwaukee, both Kareem’s original NBA team and the club of current Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who will Face off with LeBron as another captain in the All-Star Game later this month.
Passing the torch will come with a much-needed reprieve from a long season and a brief respite from so much noise for now.
Russ telling us to “have fun” for LeBron? Fix that later. Brutal roster building? History doesn’t care. AD-as-Humpty-Dumpty Anxiety? Worry about it later. host? Even they can’t whistle (or can’t). What LeBron is about to achieve is truly astounding.
The Lakers, its fans and the rest of us can enjoy the moment while we wonder what happens six weeks or six months after LeBron’s 38,388 points.
There is precedent, as the Lakers weave great magic out of a disappointing season.
April 13, 2016 The 17-win Lakers season is drawing to a close. I was at Staples Center last night, Kobe Bryant’s final night, and any jokes, sarcasm or doubts from that season evaporated as Kobe rewinded the years and racked up the points — 60 of them.
That was his trademark, a number he felt was inevitable as the game went on, shot after shot, shot after shot, a reminder of Bryant’s place in the game, and even in the most cluttered garden, so Even good moments can bloom in all their brilliance. season.
Yes, it was a farewell, very different from the one LeBron proclaimed when he became the new standard-bearer for the NBA’s all-time scoring record. But the effect could be the same: A disappointing Lakers season can still draw moments of awe from the greatest players in history connected to their all-time greats, illuminating the arena in a way that losing teams rarely do.
Kobe sat in the packed postgame press conference that night with joy and greatness on his face, surrounded by so many reporters overwhelmed by what he had just done and how it summed up such a remarkable, glamorous career hypnotized.
Something similar awaits us all in the coming week. Once LeBron does—and once he takes over the top spot, the light of what that means sweeps the league on a historic night—perhaps a similar joy can recalibrate this Lakers season, no matter how Long feeling lasts.
