Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James revealed in the new Netflix docuseries “Starting 5” that he hated the minutes restriction that he was on early last season.
“Yeah I know,” James said during a game with multiple members of the team in earshot. “I know y’all got me on f—–‘ old man time percentages and s—. Play eight minutes and s—. Two shots in eight minutes, just getting cardio. I hate this s— already. This s—‘s garbage. Y’all know I’m in better shape than everybody.”
Despite his age, James clearly felt that he was able to handle his usual workload, and he ended up showing that in the 2023-24 season.
The four-time league MVP ended up playing 35.3 minutes per game last season – just under his average from the previous season of 35.5 – across 71 games.
James played in the most games in a single regular season of his Lakers tenure, and he averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game while shooting 54.0 percent from the field and 41.0 percent from deep in the process.
The four-time champion then followed that up by averaging 27.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 8.8 assists in 40.8 minutes per game in the first round of the playoffs against the Denver Nuggets.
While the Lakers only lasted five games in that series, James was clearly capable of handling the massive workload and putting up impressive numbers.
James’ competitive fire and willingness to push his body to the limit is something that Lakers fans should be excited about in the 2024-25 season. Clearly, the 39-year-old believes in the work he’s put in to stay in shape, and he doesn’t seem to want to take things easy – even though he’s at the latter stages of his career.
It will be interesting to see how new Lakers head coach J.J. Redick and his staff handle James’ playing time in the 2024-25 season.
Los Angeles is looking to get back to the playoffs, and it likely will need big seasons from both James and Anthony Davis to get that done. The Lakers didn’t make a major move in the offseason to change their roster, so they’ll be relying on internal improvement to earn a higher seed in the Western Conference this season.
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