The Los Angeles Lakers’ leader has 155 points in his last five games, which is an achievement that only Michael Jordan has ever reached before. And no other players aged 36 and over have ever done the same. However, this is not the only thing that the athlete can be proud of.
Los Angeles Lakers basketball player LeBron James was able to repeat the achievement of Michael Jordan in terms of performance among older NBA players. In their last game on Tuesday, the Lakers beat Boston with scores of 117 and 102 respectively. In the match, James scored 30 points, made five assists, and had four rebounds. Thus, in the last five matches, the Lakers’ leader scored 155 points. Previously, it was only Michael Jordan, who played his last league game in 2003, was able to demonstrate such performance among players aged 36 and older in the NBA. In total, during this season, 36-year-old James played 13 matches, in which he averaged 25.9 points, made 5.5 rebounds and 6.6 assists.
LeBron has been playing for the Lakers since 2018. The Lakers title takes James’ status to the next level. Michael can’t hold on to his 6 out of 6 in the final forever. Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James became the NBA champion for the fourth time in his career. In the 2019/2020 playoff final, the Lakers outperformed the Miami Heat (4-2). James was voted the MVP of the series decisive. LeBron became the first player in history to receive such an award with three different clubs. Previously, King did it twice at the Miami Heat and once at the Cleveland Cavaliers.
What Makes the Difference?
Six out of six titles are actually the only argument that Jordan’s supporters still cite. LeBron is ahead of Michael in all key statistical categories during his career. Of course, James shows the best durability. However, LeBron’s list of historical records is more impressive than Jordan’s. LeBron scored more points, assists, rebounds, block shots, showed higher accuracy from the field and from beyond the arc in the regular season.
Jordan is better only in interceptions and accuracy of free throws in the regular season. LeBron’s dominance in the playoffs is even more impressive. For example, James has doubled assists and rebounds in the postseason. Again, except for the accuracy of free throws, Michael has nothing to cover.
LeBron has set a huge number of historical records and in two or three years should surpass the “eternal” achievement of Karim Abdul-Jabbar (38 387 points). In terms of numbers, LeBron already has a noticeable lead over Jordan, which will only grow over time. After winning the NBA Finals, James made it clear that he was going to play for at least 4-5 years. Probably, LeBron is waiting for his son Bronny to appear in the league, with whom he wants to play on the same team.
Michael is more solid in individual awards. Jordan has 5 MVP titles versus LeBron’s four and 9 hits in the national teams of the season in defense (LeBron has 6). But the MVP award is highly subjective. American experts do not hesitate to admit that James could easily have had about 10 such awards. Jordan, on the other hand, received his statuettes during the era of basketball globalization in the 1990s. So it is Jordan who became the face of this whole process. To this day, Michael uses echoes of that past veneration. Jordan has been the league’s top scorer 10 times. You can’t get into this category. Michael is indeed a strong scorer, but James is a more versatile basketball player who never prioritized scoring as many points as possible.
What About Titles?
Jordan has 6 out of 6 in the finals. That’s an amazing achievement, but this fact does not give an idea of the big picture. What did Michael do during the rest of the years? He didn’t play in the NBA for 6 years. The answer is simple. Jordan was eliminated in the Eastern Conference playoffs with the Boston Celtics at the end of Larry Bird’s career and with the Bad Boys Detroit Pistons led by Isaiah Thomas.
The presence of LeBron in a team is a guarantee of its competitiveness. Put James in even the most unsuccessful NBA franchise, the New York Knicks, and they will at least make the playoffs if King avoids injury. In 2018, after the departure of Kyrie Irving, James brought the completely mediocre Cavaliers to the final, where he almost caught the first game with Golden State. Everything was prevented by the famous blunder of J.R. Smith, who forgot the score in the last seconds. It was a watershed moment that could have shattered the Warriors and added odds to Cleveland.
LeBron didn’t take any breaks in his career. James has consistently dominated the league for 17 years. And it will do it for more than one year. And we expect to hear even more about the athlete and his professional achievements in the coming years. If you are LeBron’s fan, then you can always support your favorite athlete on any of the top sports betting and online casino platforms that Casinoluck has selected for you.
