At the age of 35, LeBron James is having one of his most spectacular regular seasons in his 17th year as a pro, and he has the Los Angeles Lakers atop the standings in the Western Conference with 29 games left to play. James – the current NBA assist leader – has missed just two games all year, and he leads the Lakers in minutes played at 34.9 per game, the lowest average of his career.
James weighed in on the ongoing debate over the NBA’s “load management” trend earlier this season, telling reporters that if he’s not hurt, he’ll be on the court.
“If I’m hurt, I don’t play. If not, I’m playing. That’s what has always been my motto…. There’s a back-to-back Tuesday-Wednesday? Phoenix, [then] back home against Golden State? I’ll be ready to go. What do you mean, ‘How am I going to handle it?'”
As the regular season wanes, the debate over the Lakers’ rest strategy is only going to get louder. ESPN’s First Take seemingly discusses LeBron’s load management philosophy daily – and if the Lakers fall to Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers in the postseason, you can bet that analysts will claim the result as proof that practicing load management is the only way to win in the modern NBA.
Should LeBron James be resting more often at this stage in his career? It’s tempting to say yes automatically – but LeBron is not normal, even when compared to other elite NBA players. He cannot be compared to any other 35-year-old athlete in any sport. Conventional wisdom does not apply to him.
LeBron James, for the better part of 17 years, has dominated the NBA, and he has a chance to retire as the greatest scorer in league history in large part because he’s been one of the most durable star athletes we’ve ever seen. Up until the 2018-19 season with the Lakers, the year James was sidelined with a groin injury that kept him out for an extended period, James had never missed more than 13 games in any of his previous 15 seasons. At the age of 33, James played all 82 games in his last year with the Cavs, and was rested enough to carry that team to a Finals matchup with the Warriors.
It’s easy to build the case for why James should be taking it easy. He leads all active NBA players in minutes played, and has played more playoff minutes than any other NBA player in history. James’ career minutes total (playoffs and regular season) dwarfs Michael Jordan’s by 6.6 entire days.
Yet James is still one of the best players on Earth, even at 35, and even after all that wear and tear. He still believes, as he has his entire career, that he doesn’t need to sit out games. At this point, who are we to doubt him?
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