LeBron James (Credits – Fox News and Lakers Nation)
LeBron James is having one of his best and worst seasons as a veteran this season. Starting with the worst, the Los Angeles Lakers have not performed up to the mark and the 4x NBA Champion is playing through an injury. The upside of this season is that he is shooting a career-high from three-point range. This has yielded a lot of success for the Lakers, especially since March. His three-point shot has become a major threat, as we would have witnessed against the Brooklyn Nets.
After a solid victory against the Washington Wizards, James reasoned out why he’s been able to do more work on the floor this season. He said, “I’ve been able to get a lot more work on the floor this season because my foot has been a lot better than last year. I really couldn’t, on off days or in between games or whatever, get much work done because I had to stay off my foot.”
Against the Nets, he shot 9-10 from deep, however, it wasn’t the same case against the Wizards. James claims he can score from anywhere beyond half-court. But it seems like he chooses not to make his game too predictable for the opposition, which makes him a bigger threat on the floor. He’s shooting a career-high 41.7% from deep this season.
LeBron James has led the Lakers to a winning record since March
Obviously, the Lakers had a poor start to the season going 17-16 by the end of December. Their record further declined after they went below .500 before the 2024 NBA All-Star break. However, LA was able to regroup and acquire more wins after the All-Star break. Impressively, they’ve gone 14-7 since the break.
Since March, the Lakers have appeared in 16 games and achieved an 11-5 record. James also missed three games since returning from the All-Star break. The Lakers played two games against the Milwaukee Bucks while James was away from the floor. They won both games without him, which shows that LA has great potential to make the playoffs.
Did LeBron James make a mistake by not getting foot surgery?
Towards the end of the 2022-23 season, LeBron James tweaked his ankle and missed 13 games (February 26 – March 26). It was a huge miss for the Lakers as they struggled to creep above the Play-In Tournament berths. They ultimately won the first round of the Play-Ins against the Minnesota Timberwolves. From there, they competed against the Memphis Grizzlies (No.2), Golden State Warriors (2022 NBA Champions), and Denver Nuggets (eventual champions and No.1 seed).
After getting swept by the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, LeBron James made multiple visits to various doctors for his lingering foot injury. While almost everybody suggested he got surgery done, one doctor (known as the LeBron James of feet) claimed he didn’t need to get his ankle injury surgically repaired. Even though the doctor’s advice worked out for the better, he has had struggles with his foot occasionally.
