LeBron James blew past his 30-minute playing time guideline as he put on a masterclass to save the Lakers from a 0-2 start to the season. James played the entire fourth quarter against the Suns, when his minutes limit suggested he should only play about half the frame. In that time, LeBron scored 10 points, helping eliminate a 12-point Suns lead and pushing the Lakers to a 100-95 victory.
"He [had coach Darvin Ham] asked me if I could go the quarter, and I looked at the time and the score and what was going on in the game, and it was an easy answer for myself. I know how much work I've put in to be able to play quarters or whatever the case may be. And I understand that we definitely have a system put in place, but tonight called for me to go outside the box."" LeBron said after the game. The veteran star, now two games into his 21st season, finished with 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists. Anthony Davis, who was roasted for his performance against Denver in the season opener, had a 30-point double-double against Phoenix.
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LeBron Isn't Slowing Down
"We were dragging our feet there for the better part of the first half, and things weren't clicking. He has that spirit, that intensity to put the team on his shoulders. And I had timeouts to play with. And so I went to him, I said, 'How we feeling? What do we want to do?' And he answered my question. And you guys saw the results. So we used a couple of our timeouts to get some breathers," Coach Ham said of LeBron's performance against Phoenix.
It speaks to the mentality LeBron has had throughout the offseason. Despite contemplating retirement, the 21-season veteran has put everything he has into preparing for the road ahead. "It's staggering for a player who has 20 years under the hood already and is preparing for 21 like he's a rookie. He's been doing 6 a.m. workouts. Probably been in our building as much as any player this offseason. Been in the weight room as much as any player. Any team LeBron's played for, it's been pretty uniform that his work sets the tone. There has been nothing but an increase in seeing that here. To me, it's let's be about it, let's not talk about it. He's definitely been about it this offseason," Lakers GM Rob Pelinka told reporters last month.
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