Despite being the league’s oldest active player, 39-year-old Los Angeles Lakers point forward LeBron James continues to perform at an All-Star level in his 21st professional season.
Although he is known for his superior physicality, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald reports that his former Miami Heat head coach believes the 6’9″ superstar deserves more recognition for his dedication to maintaining it.
“Most people don’t notice it, and they assume he doesn’t.” “They just assume he’s the best athlete in the game, which he was for so long,”
Spoelstra reflected. “But he’s been able to maintain this level because of everything else.” “There will come a time when he will be able to dominate even without the physical tools; he will be able to do so with his size and brain.” But he’s not even close. He’s still physically capable of doing it.”
As the de facto leader of the 17-17 Lakers through 31 games, James is averaging 25.4 points on.535/.409/.749 shooting splits, 7.4 assists, 7.4 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and 0.7 blocks. Tomorrow night at 7 p.m. PT, Los Angeles will face Spoelstra’s 19-14 Heat for the second time this season. The game can be seen locally on Spectrum SportsNet as well as nationally on NBA TV.
On November 6, the two teams met for the first time this season, and Miami won by one point, 108-107, thanks to Heat All-Star small forward Jimmy Butler’s 28 points. James scored 30 points.
