It’s been a rough stretch for the Los Angeles Lakers after a promising three-game win streak led to a five-game losing skid.
Anthony Davis’ MCL sprain and players going in and out of the NBA’s health and safety protocol have created a challenging situation for the Lakers.
As the Lakers continue to take hits to the rotation, the workload increases for LeBron James. He has scored at least 30 points in nine of the last 14 games, including the previous four contests. The Lakers lost all of them.
The star forward explained after the loss to the Brooklyn Nets how he comes out every game with the current circumstances.
“I try to do my part when I’m on the floor: carry the load, do a little bit on both sides and just try to lead by example and also lead with my voice,” James said. “It’s obviously been difficult throughout this stretch, but that won’t stop me. I’m going to continue to do what I’m doing.”
The Lakers have recently signed Isaiah Thomas, Jemerrio Jones, Darren Collison and Stanley Johnson as 10-day replacement players to help, but James said it’s difficult for them to acclimate to Los Angeles’ system in the time that they have.
“Everybody has guys out. When you get your opportunity, when you get your number called, just make the most of it and go out and play, play our system,” James said. “It’s even challenging for some of the new guys because they haven’t been in the system long enough exactly when we want to execute, but tonight they just played hard.”
Though the mileage on LeBron’s legs is worrisome, it’s still incredible that he’s producing in this manner as he soon turns 37 years old. The Lakers just need players to step up and reduce the burden on James if winning a title is a realistic goal.
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