At @ringer/@ringernba: I decided to go off the beaten path a bit this morning and write about an unsung hero — a real Basketball Twitter/League Pass diamond in the rough.
On LeBron, who is, as it turns out, *not* taking the first month of the season off: https://t.co/5CXA34jAkj
— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) January 5, 2021
So much for coasting. In his 18th season, and just three months removed from winning a title, the 36-year-old James is doing anything but resting on his laurels.
…
“He sets a tone for this Laker organization, this team. That’s the standard,” new Laker Wesley Matthews told reporters after the win. “When the best player is setting and exceeding that standard, I mean, obviously everybody else comes along.”
And maybe that—the importance of setting that standard, even at a time when nobody would fault you for taking it easy—is why a season that seemed poised for a cruise-control start will instead see LeBron push hard enough that the Lakers can cruise.
“I love it,” Vogel told reporters. “We’ll manage his minutes and all that stuff in a responsible way, but when he’s out on the floor, that’s who he is.”
Which is to say: the best player in the world, still, and maybe a better bet to snag that fifth MVP trophy than we might’ve thought before the start of the season. Because LeBron James, it seems, doesn’t take it easy. He just makes it look that way.
Guess LeBron didn’t want to take off the first month after all. LMAO. I think LeBron loves playing and doesn’t want to waste any of his remaining years where he can still play at an elite level by coasting or taking time off. Smartly, resting and picking when and where to go all out is smart but LeBron still wants to win as much as ever.