In the fourth quarter Saturday night, LeBron James took over. He scored 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting (including three 3-pointers), set up teammates and quickly turned a 7-point Sacramento lead entering the quarter into a Lakers win at home. It was a reminder that at age 39 in his 22nd season, LeBron James is still elite — and he is the tone-setter for these Lakers. They go as he goes.
The Lakers need LeBron to be great to have a chance this season, and he told reporters he plans to be there for every game — all 82.
Here’s his quote from Friday night, after another Lakers win, when asked if he would play in the back-to-back, via Hunter Patterson and Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
“Yeah. I plan on playing every game. We’ll see what happens. You never know. We’ll see what happens if I don’t.”
LeBron has played in 82 games just once in his career, in the 2017-18 season, his final in Cleveland. Last season he played in 71 games, in the three previous seasons it was 55, 56, and 45.
The question should not be LeBron’s desire to play in all 82, nor should it be about his conditioning and preparing his body — no player in the league works harder to be ready every game than LeBron. However, rolled ankles or tweaked backs and other minor injuries happen over the course of the 26-week marathon of an NBA season. LeBron may end up missing some time. What the Lakers and their fans need to hope is that any time missed is just a game or two here and there, with nothing extended.
Because the real question is how LeBron finished his comment: “We’ll see what happens if I don’t.” This is not a Lakers roster with much margin for error.
