It makes sense that the only thing here in Los Angeles with the real power to temporarily freeze and silence all the drama created by a LeBron James team in disarray is, in fact, an act of utter greatness by LeBron James.
This season, the lakers they’ve given off a monotonous basketball drone, a frustrating low frequency sent out by so much mediocrity and angst: Russell Westbrook drama. Anthony Davis’ stretch of injury now past tense but still shocking. The future first-round draft picks that will or will not be traded. LeBron’s constant passive-aggressive attempts to force his team’s hand in the matter prompted a rival general manager to criticize CBS Sports: “Everyone knows you want to trade those picks for help; you should do what anyone would and have the guts to say it out loud.”
This LeBron-led Lakers team has a 24-28 record, a modest 13th in the tight Western Conference, it is a team of possibilities, like so many others that alternate between a lottery position, a play-in or an absolute position. in the playoffs, they are locked in noise. of a King James team falling below their supposed royal standard.
But that noise, at least for a moment, is about to stop. Because LeBron’s lifelong search for Michael Jordan is about to recharge by chasing another all-time great.
Within just 89 points, as you surely know, LeBron will reign as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. That moment will transform the Lakers from a team of disappointments to one that once again reaches and touches the pinnacle of rim greatness.
For at least one night, banality will be exchanged for bravado. Holiday frustration. A sense of mediocrity at best for a moment of true and deserved basketball glory.
Will it be enough freedom from heartbreak, enough joy and positivity, to spark a Lakers renaissance and a run between now and the end of the season? Maybe. Maybe not. An NBA championship probably won’t follow.
But a reminder of a sentiment: of the purple and gold sitting at the center of the basketball universe, of the most talked about team in the game again emanating from downtown Los Angeles, of the entire NBA turning its often jaded gaze and jealous towards the Lakers: – will rise again, albeit temporarily.
Winning, of course, is cool. But it is also seeing a great Laker have the history of the sport in his hand.
Coincidentally but confidently, Lakers sources speculate that no matter what, LeBron will and will always break this record below the rafters where No. 33 resides. He is now on pace, at his current scoring rate, to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record 38,387 points at home next week.
Those inside the Lakers organization are hoping their star scores enough points in the next two road games in Indiana and New Orleans to ensure Kareem’s mark is eclipsed at home against Oklahoma City next Tuesday or, later. probably two days later in a nationally televised game against Milwaukee, which is both Kareem’s original NBA team and the club of the DollarsReigning star Giannis Antetokounmpo will face LeBron as the other All-Star Game captain later this month.
The passing of the torch will come along with a much-needed respite from what has been a long season and, for a moment, a brief respite from all the noise.
Russ, are we going to have “fun” disconnected by LeBron? Solve it later. Brutal list building? History doesn’t care. AD anxiety like Humpty Dumpty? Worry about that later. The officiant? Not even they can blow a whistle (or miss) on this one. What LeBron is about to accomplish is truly amazing.
The Lakers, their fans and the rest of us can just enjoy this moment while staying curious about what will happen six weeks, or six months, from LeBron’s 38,388 point.
There’s precedent for this, for a great Laker weaving magic out of a disappointing season.
On April 13, 2016, a 17-win Lakers season came to a merciful end. I was at Staples Center that last night, Kobe Bryant’s last, and any jokes, sarcasm, or skepticism from that season evaporated as Kobe rolled back the years and racked up the points, 60 of them.
That was his mark, the number that as the game wore on seemed inevitable, shot after shot, reminder after reminder of Kobe’s place in the game and how such a beautiful moment can blossom in all its splendor even in the most neglected garden. of a station
It was a goodbye, yes, and so different from what LeBron will claim when he becomes the new standard-bearer for the NBA’s all-time scoring record. But the effect can be the same: A disappointing Lakers season can still have a moment of wow from an all-time great connecting with his all-time greatness, lighting up the arena in a way that teams losers rarely do.
That night, Kobe sat in a packed post-game press conference, beaming with joy, beaming with greatness, surrounded by so many journalists mesmerized by what he had just done and how it encapsulated such a remarkable and brilliant career.
Something similar awaits us all in the coming week. And once LeBron’s done it, once he takes the top spot, and the glow of what it means floods the league for one historic night, perhaps a similar kind of joy can recalibrate this Lakers season, no matter what. how long it is the feeling lasts
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