Hi is in control of the rebounding ball and is in control of destiny.
Looking back now, from the perspective of fans, the implementation of the mid-season tournament was still a success, at least for James and Lakers fans, who was able to witness the full launch in December in advance, once again saw the 38-year-old veteran's terrible place, and finally James won the first mid-season tournament MVP trophy and ended up. The result is considered a success.
After getting another honor in his career, let's take a look at what has changed in James in the latter stages of his career, and what kind of transformation has allowed him to still stand at the top level of the league. Judging from the content of the game, the 38-year-old James is still in the process of evolving, which is a rather terrifying thing. According to our common sense, in the world of athletes, as they get older, players will indeed improve in terms of game experience and basketball intelligence, but their physical condition and health are bound to decline. But this qualifier seems to be an exception for James.
Combined with performances throughout his career, James has indeed evolved over time. When he first entered the league, he began to improve his shooting in the Cavaliers, intensified his low-post offense in the restricted area during the Heat, and when he returned to the Cavaliers for the second time, he began to hone his skills in order to achieve balance. After traveling west to the Los Angeles Lakers, he added throwing shots, step-back jumpers and other techniques, coupled with an increasingly sophisticated basketball IQ, even if he is no longer able to rampage like he was when he was younger, he can still score steadily and efficiently.
So far in the regular season this season, James has set a new career high in two-point shooting percentage and three-point shooting percentage, and the only thing that can be found fault is that the free throw shooting is a little inaccurate, and there is almost no sign of aging and decline. Combined with the data of recent seasons, James has scored fewer and fewer free throws, while three-pointers and offensive and defensive transitions have accounted for more and more points, and the distribution of shots is getting closer and closer to the so-called magic ball concept. His style of play is still changing with the times, and it is only after he can finally create a cumulative record that is difficult for future generations to match.
Needless to say, after leaving the Cavaliers to travel west to the Lakers, James won a championship and an FMVP trophy. In terms of data accumulation, it is even more stable, although the frequency of absenteeism in the regular season has begun to increase, but it is still efficient in the games played, and its personal data has successively surpassed that of its predecessors, and has completed 10,000 rebounds, 10,000 assists, 2,000 steals, 1,000 assists and other integer milestones of personal data, and in the 2022-23 season, it surpassed Lakers legend Abdul-Jabbar in the scoring list to advance to the all-time scoring champion, and the first Mr. 40,000 points in history is just around the corner.
If nothing happens in the future, James has a good chance of becoming the only member of the 411 Club in league history (40,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 1,000 assists), ranking at the top of the all-time list in the traditional five career statistics such as points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks.
Fifth, the top 10 steals in history, the top 35 in rebounding history, only the individual block data is slightly lower, around 90th in history. The number of individual three-pointers and triple-doubles is also in the top 10 all-time. There's no doubt that James is an absolute data monster in history.
This season is James' 21st season, and Robert Palish, Kevin Willis, Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki have been able to reach 21 seasons in history, and only Vince Carter has played for 22 seasons, ahead of James.
But unlike James, these 21-season players have shown signs of age in their final years and are no longer essential star players on the team. But looking back at James, he is still an irreplaceable role in the Lakers, and he can still hand over the data of the team's core general level, and we can hardly see any shadow of decline in him.
Approaching the age of 39, James' playing time is still high, and his average time per game this season is still as high as 33 minutes, and his personal average data per game is 253 points 75 rebounds and 67 assists 1The excellent result of 5 steals is not much different from the career average of only points. It's hard to imagine that after 20 years, James is still the same. While it's impossible to completely ignore the impact of time on him, we were amazed by the 38-year-old when the focus was on the data sheet.
As he himself said:
I still feel a little bit different now, I'm pretty sure I'm not a 21-year-old guy anymore, and it's a difference since I get out of bed every day. But in terms of overall playing ability, I still think I'm pretty good.
This is his own banter, but judging from the reality of the situation, James himself does not seem to want to stop moving forward, and when the US men's basketball team lost the 2023 Philippine World Cup, he even stated that he wanted to represent the dream team in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Compared to his senior colleagues who have played more than 21 seasons in the NBA, James has the advantage of skipping the draft as a high school student, and only Garnett can stand on the same starting line as him. But joining the NBA early is not entirely a good thing, on the basis of playing early, it also represents more attrition in advance, day after day, year after year, coupled with James's extremely high playoff attendance, the most playoff games in the history of the league, and the offseason to wear the U.S. men's national basketball team jersey to compete on the international stage, in contrast, James's attrition is difficult for others to match in history.
According to the frequency of about 2,000 minutes of playing time per year in recent years, there is a high probability that there will be no chance to complete the overtaking of Abdul-Jabbar next season. In the playoffs, James is the only god-level monster in history who has played more than 10,000 minutes, and he has accumulated a lot of data for him by reaching the finals many times in a row, and no one can match the historical list. James is equally terrifying on the international stage, with the 2004 Athens Olympics, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2012 London Olympics, the 2006 World Championships, and the 2007 Americas Championships.
And as the pace of NBA games has become faster and faster in recent years, and the team's offensive efficiency has become more and more efficient, this change is indeed conducive to James accumulating various statistics. But this also means that more rounds have to be played in the same amount of time, and modern offensive and defensive tactics are becoming more and more complex, so it is rare to see the same picture of four people pulling away and one person playing alone, running and covering without the ball is more executed than in the past, and the physical consumption of players is also greater than before.
This is the direct reason why James's health frequency has become more and more obvious in recent years, even if he himself has always had a bad view of rotation management, but he still needs to return to the factory for maintenance occasionally. Combined with this statistic, in terms of the regular season alone, the likes of Karl Malone, Stockton, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar all outperformed James in the final decade of their careers.
PS: James' stats for this season are not counted, and play-off time is also not counted.
Abdul-Jabbar's greatest feature is that he played at least 74 games in the final decade of his career, missing only a few games a year at most. And Malone missed almost half of the last year with the Lakers, and the rest of the years are in an absolute healthy state. Stockton's attendance was equally horrific, with only 18 games off in 1997-98 due to a finger injury, and the rest of the season not missing a game, which is a statistic that no other player can match.
In contrast, James's total number of games may not be as good as his predecessors, but his game statistics are almost one-to-one compared to the early stage of his career, which is the most terrifying thing about him. The following table shows the average points, rebounds, and assists per game in the last 10 years of the same four's career, except for a slightly less 0In addition to 4 points, rebounds, assists, etc., are even higher than the career average.
Of these men, Abdul-Jabbar has seen the most significant decline, with all three major stats falling quite short of his career averages. Malone's scoring decreased by 1 point, but the rebounds were still maintained, and the assists were counter-trending**, and overall the level of efficiency continued. Stockton has one less assist, but his points and rebounds are almost the same as his career average, and he doesn't show much signs of aging.
For James, his stats don't fluctuate much, and several key statistics such as points, rebounds, and assists are still stable. According to this trend, it is not impossible for James to want to compete with his son Bronny, who has received medical clearance to return to the court to compete in college basketball. If James can continue to maintain his physical condition, he can become the youngest superstar in NBA history.
I still remember that in 2007, James was only 22 years old at that time, and in the Eastern Conference Finals, he single-handedly fought against the powerful Pistons to advance to the Finals, and finally lost to the top Spurs Big Three and was swept out. And after the fourth game of the finals, Spurs main player Duncan specially found James, and then said the classic saying:The future is yours.
Seven years later, in the summer, Duncan and the Spurs defeated James again to win the championship, and a reporter asked James what he thought of Duncan's words back then, and James didn't think about it and said with a smile:Duncan lied to me, he's a **!
Time is like an arrow, James who had the future back then is now a veteran to be retired, his opponents from the previous generation of Kobe Bryant, Pierce, to the younger Durant, Leonard, George, Butler, and then to the younger Tatum, Doncic, Edwards, time changes, only James remains the same, he is still at the top of the league waiting for the challenge of heroes from all sides.
There may be many fans who don't like the content of our praise for James in this article, after all, there are enough fans who don't like James, from the so-called peak huddle, to the calculation on the court, the ugly basketball skills, etc., are all reasons to hate a player. But even with these balls that don't like James, it is impossible to deny the achievements of this historical superstar, and it is difficult to find a latecomer in modern times.