Just over a week after celebrating his 38th birthday with 47 points in a win at Atlanta, LeBron James was named the Western Conference Player of the Week, having led his Lakers to a 3-0 record amidst a five-game winning streak that brought them just two games under .500, despite the loss of Anthony Davis to injury on Dec. 16.
James managed to put up averages of 35.0 points (54.8% shooting), 8.7 rebounds and 7.7 assists during the week in wins over Charlotte, Atlanta and Sacramento (LAL managed to beat Miami without him). He owns the NBA record with 66 career weekly awards, and this is his first one since December of 2021.
LeBron, who didn’t play on Monday night in Denver due to a sore left ankle, is now averaging 29.1 points (the 5th most of his career), 8.2 rebounds (4th most), 6.7 assists (12th) and 1.0 steals while shooting an efficient 51.0% from the field, including an ongoing streak of shooting at least 50.0% in 13 straight games.
It’s all the more remarkable considering the fact that he’s in his 20th NBA season.
In fact, only eight other players in league history have managed to play in a 20th season*, and none have carried even close to the load of LeBron. Below are where his numbers rank relative to the others, including Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter, Robert Parish, Kevin Willis and Moses Malone.
*Minimum 40 total minutes played
20th NBA SEASON LEADERS
POINTS
1. LeBron: 29.1
2. Kobe: 17.6
ASSISTS
1. LeBron: 6.7
2. Kobe: 2.8
REBOUNDS
1. LeBron: 8.2
2. Kevin Garnett: 6.6
STEALS
T1) LeBron: 1.0
T1) Garnett: 1.0
BLOCKS
1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 1.1
4. LeBron: 0.5
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
1. LeBron: 51.0%
2. Robert Parish: 49.8%
MINUTES
1. LeBron: 35.9
2. Kobe: 28.2
LeBron, who currently leads all players in All-Star votes ahead of what will be his NBA-record-tying 19th All-Star game*, currently trails Abdul-Jabbar by just 422 career regular season points as he closes in on the all-time lead. LeBron already leads all players in career playoff points (7,631), ahead of Michael Jordan (5,987), Kareem (5,762) and Kobe (5,640).
*Also Kareem.
If LeBron continues to average 29.1 points per game, he will reach the regular season mark in about 14 games. The Lakers have 18 games before the All-Star break, which will give James a strong chance to break the record prior to that point.
Individual stats and accomplishments aside, the most important part of this recent run of ridiculous play has been that it’s led the Lakers towards many wins, and taken them from several games out of the play-in mix to just one game back of the No. 8 spot, and 1.5 back of the No. 6 spot in the Western Conference.
L.A. are hoping to get several bodies back in the next few weeks, including Austin Reaves, Lonnie Walker IV and Troy Brown Jr., all of whom have been out at least three games, while they await further updates on the status of the most important missing piece, Davis.
In the meantime, the team will continue to sit on LeBron’s very capable shoulders as he continues his unprecedented play.