“Washed King”: The Resurrection of LeBron James
How LeBron James reclaimed his place atop the NBA’s throne
PROTECTING A 71–54 lead, LeBron James dribbled upcourt. As he attempted to drive on his defender, Draymond Green, James lost his footing and slipped, wincing in pain. With 7:51 remaining in the third quarter, a timeout was called, and he would not return to the game — a primetime Christmas Day matchup. The play looked similar to the type of injury James would shrug off in his prime. But James’ almost super-human pain tolerance didn’t hold up. Video captured him telling his trusted trainer, Mike Mancias, “I felt it pop.”
This injury marked the first major injury of James’ career, and for many fans and analysts, it marked the relinquishing of James’ title of being the NBA’s top player, a title which he held for over a decade.
This moment supposedly marked the lowest point of the season for James and the new-look L.A. Lakers, who dropped precipitously from 4th in the Western Conference to out of the playoff picture in James’ absence. Yet, in reality, it wasn’t the lowest point of the season for James.
In fact, there was a seemingly innumerable amount of low-points for James in his first season in L.A. After returning from his groin injury, he never looked like the same player that dominated the 2018 Playoffs and put together an 82-game regular season one season prior.
In a February game against the Memphis Grizzlies, James’ defensive reputation in the NBA took its biggest hit. Wandering along the weak side, James completely lost track of his assignment, Bruno Caboclo. When Caboclo, a very poor shooter, knocked down a three-pointer — while James was standing near the basket — James looked around at his teammates, with a confused glare on his face.
Social media was ablaze with criticism for James, who appeared to be a selfish, lazy teammate. And while other, less temperamental pundits proposed the idea that James was angry that his gamble — that Caboclo wouldn’t be able to hit open threes — didn’t pay off, their voices were overwhelmed by the immense criticism of James.
A week later, in a game against the L.A. Clippers, with the Lakers’ playoff hopes hanging on by a strand, James’ defensive reputation took another major blow. This time, with sharpshooter Danilo Gallinari catching an inbound to shoot a jump-shot, James was ready to just stand by and watch. But, James’ teammate, Kyle Kuzma, blatantly shoved James to make the 34-year-old defend a shot he had no intention of contesting. Once again, this play went viral and more criticism was directed at James.
Over the offseason, while rehabbing his body and filming Space Jam 2, James didn’t have much time to respond to his critics, who now claimed he was more invested in his growing film portfolio than his basketball career.
But before the season, despite having a very quiet summer, James promised he would take revenge on those who doubted him while returning the Lakers to their former glory.
AS JAMES STRUGGLED to close the 2018–2019 season after returning from, injury, many claimed that the new generation of NBA superstars were ready to take over James’ place atop the league. Not only were there experienced stars such as Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry, ready to take James’ place, but there were young, newly-drafted stars ready to come at James, as well.
Janes officially became the elder statesman of the NBA when Kobe Bryant retired, and now, many claimed, he would pass the torch to the next in line.
Yet, while James welcomed new faces into the league, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Zion Williamson, and Ben Simmons, he found a way to outperform his younger, more spry competition.
James’ secret to performing at an all-time level at age 35, in his 17th season all comes down to the one trait which he excels at more than any other player in league history: control.
Nobody controlled the game quite like James since he entered the league, and as he has transitioned from Miami to Cleveland, James’ ability to control a game has only increased. This ability to control a game made Magic Johnson’s decision to surround James with ball-handling playmakers rather than shooters in 2018 an extremely curious decision: why take the ball out of the hands of the league’s most efficient and effective player?
Consequently, when Frank Vogel, Rob Pelinka, and the 2019–2020 Lakers made James the official point-guard of the Lakers, it unlocked James to control the game more than ever. For years, James played with nominal point guards, like Mario Chalmers, or other ball-handling superstars, like Kyrie Irving. Now, James was free to control the game for 48 minutes, and the results speak for themselves.
Simply put, there is no weapon in the NBA that is more potent than James with the basketball in his hand. Never has there been a player who can defeat his opponent in so many ways: as a playmaker, as a scorer, and even as a defender.
James is like a queen on a chessboard, and the Lakers have accepted being the pieces that James’ shuffles around to maximize their potential. On any given night, James fulfills any role the team needs to win. Last year, he was misguided as somebody who was going to be a go-to scorer, but not the primary ball-handler of the team, and it led to James putting up terrific numbers but with a reduced impact on the game.
This season, James is free to control the game, and he is doing so at an MVP-level, taking revenge on those who doubted him.
WHILE JAMES AGED, transitioning to his thirty’s while in Cleveland, many wondered how he would alter his defensive workload to maintain his body for the postseason. It turned out the results would not be pretty. Rather than simply alter his role on defense, James attempted to forgo playing defense altogether.
From about mid-2017 onwards, James and his Cavaliers consistently put out a below-average defense, save for the NBA Playoffs. When James arrived in L.A., this trend continued, eventually leading to James’ defensive reputation completely falling apart.
But after being challenged by his teammates and coaches alike, James underwent a defensive renaissance, the likes of which are almost unprecedented in NBA history, especially considering James’ age.
James is now a key cog in the Lakers’ 3rd-ranked defense, showing a newfound commitment that was lacking in Cleveland and last year in L.A. He is still an above-average one-on-one defender in spurts, though he now cedes many defensive responsibilities to L.A.’s host of guard and wing defenders.
The biggest change in James’ defense, in reality, is that he no longer plays defense like a superstar. He has accepted guarding role players instead of the other team’s top scorer, with the understanding that it is no longer acceptable for him to coast through entire seasons without exerting energy on defense.
It is no longer tenable for James to check his opposition’s top scorer and dominate the game offensively, but he still brings one defensive skill that nobody, not even Defensive Player of the Year candidate Anthony Davis, can top: his communication.
As coach Frank Vogel described, “Obviously he [James] has the physical tools to dominate [defensively], but his mind on that end of the floor is not spoken about enough. He’s able to recognize coverages before they happen and just be that middle linebacker.”
As the team’s top communicator, or “middle linebacker” on defense, while serving as the full-time point guard, James effectively controls all aspects of the Lakers play while he is on the court.
And the results speak for themselves: the Lakers had the top seed in the West, a 49–14 record, a 77.8% win percentage, and a 33–7 record against Western Conference teams.
IN THE LAST weekend of NBA games before the league was suspended, James reminded the rest of the league that he, at his very best, is still far and away the most dominant player in basketball.
In back-to-back games, he overwhelmed Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, and he also took down Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and the surging L.A. Clippers. And he did so on both sides of the court, resembling the athletic freak who won consecutive MVPs in both Cleveland and Miami.
Against Milwaukee, in a game that was being celebrated as a Finals preview, it was James who shined brighter than any other player on the court in a matchup featuring 4 All-Stars.
Early in the first quarter, while being knocked down trying to prevent Giannis Antetokounmpo from attacking the basket, Anthony Davis picked his second personal foul with over 8 minutes to go in the first quarter. The stage was set for Antetokounmpo to dominate the Lakers while taking over the MVP race. Instead, a 35-year old James pushed, shoved, and fought to keep the reigning MVP on defense.
According to ESPN and Second Spectrum data, James guarded Antetokounmpo, the league’s reigning MVP, thirty-five times throughout the game, ceding only 5 points on 2/8 shooting to the MVP, while racking up 3 steals.
In the third quarter, with the game in the balance, it was James, not Antetokounmpo, who took over the game with a variety of scoring moves. Over and over, James isolated against athletic Bucks defenders, either backing them into the post or taking them off of the dribble. Wes Matthews, Khris Middleton, and even Antetokounmpo all attempted to defend James, but their efforts were in vain.
James had 14 points and 3 assists in the third quarter, and he finished with 37–8–8, a vintage performance that was reminiscent of his legendary playoff games from his days in Cleveland. But his work wasn’t finished; he had to defeat the L.A. Clippers next.
Before facing off the Clippers, James texted Lakers’ assistant coach Phil Handy that he wanted to guard Kawhi Leonard. Remember, this was a 35-year-old in his 17th season that asked to guard the opposition’s best player just two nights after guarding the reigning MVP.
While James didn’t neutralize Leonard, who finished with 27 points on 9/18 shooting, he did enough to slow the Clippers vaunted perimeter attack. Also, he and the Lakers held Leonard to 0 assists on the night, forcing Leonard to isolate over and over — a scenario which is likely the Lakers’ game-plan against the Clippers come the NBA Playoffs (if they happen).
In the fourth quarter against the Clippers, with the game still in the balance, James took over the game in two ways: firstly, he slowed down the offense to take advantage of mismatches, and secondly, his hustle on defense helped the Lakers mitigate Anthony Davis’ foul trouble down the stretch.
Repeatedly, James had his teammates screen to force Lou Williams to match up with him on defense, which neutralized the elite perimeter defense of the Clippers. This strategy of repeated, deliberate screening led to the Lakers taking control of the game offensively.
And with Davis sidelined for long stretches in the fourth quarter due to foul trouble, James had to guard Leonard while also helping secure multiple key defensive rebounds.
James finished with 28–8–9, another strong performance that added to his growing MVP case. After checking out of the game, Kyle Kuzma made a “crowning” gesture to mock Kawhi Leonard, who made a commercial declaring himself as the “King of L.A.” Remember, Kuzma was the same teammate who shoved James to make him play better defense just a year prior; the difference between the perception of James in his 16th and 17th seasons was like night and day.
Unfortunately, James would only play in one more game before this season ended abruptly to the current global epidemic. Seeing that James was averaging 30.0 points per game on vastly improved shooting splits after the All-Star Break, we may have missed his best regular-season performance in years due to the NBA’s postponement.
When it’s all said and done, this season won’t be remembered as James’ best, nor his most impressive. However, in a season full of disappointments that may end up being canceled altogether, it was James who came through by playing at an MVP-level all season at 35 years-old — a fact that should not be forgotten as awards are heavily debated.
All stats via Basketball Reference
