- At 38, LeBron James is still a dominant force in the NBA
- James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA record of 38,387 points last year
- Lewis Hamilton and Andy Murray still competing, even if they’re not in their prime
When thoughtful, soft-spoken Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham walked into the media area next to the home locker room at Crypto.Com Arena on Sunday night, everyone knew there was bad news.
With two hours to go before the team’s regular-season game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Hamm was talking to a group of 15 to 20 crestfallen reporters about LeBron James.
The 38-year-old superstar will miss the first game of the season with a “left calf contusion,” the coach confirmed.
He was pressed for more and more details until his press conference turned into an extended medical announcement. The dark, anti-climactic feeling is palpable.
A Lakers game without LeBron is like a court without the King.
Speculation about James’ injury has been lingering since he limped off in his last game against the Phoenix Suns .
The idea of his absence was discussed in apocalyptic terms. Analysts aren’t trying to hide the Lakers’ reliance on James’ enduring talent.
Coach Hamm doesn’t try to hide it, either. “There’s no reason to put him in trouble so early in the season,” he said.
“You can never replace what he did, but if you do the right things, you can survive in his absence.”
“Surviving in his absence” feels like an interesting phrase. We all try to do the same as great sports stars age, decline, suffer more injuries and limit their time.
We work through their absence and try to be ready for the time when they decide they can no longer play.
That moment has yet to come for James, who last year broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 38,387 points to become the highest-scoring player in NBA history.
He’s still the Lakers’ best player by a wide margin and still a player the team relies on mentally. He remains one of the league’s leading scorers. He remains the team’s best chance of making the play-offs.
He remains a hero to all who love the game and to all who recognize its greatness. In a recent interview, Real Madrid and England player Jude Bellingham, who has the world at his feet, was asked to name the person he would like to be one day. “LeBron James,” Bellingham said. “The person who is definitely the best at something.”
Again – James is 38 years old. In that game against the Suns, he was nine years older than the second-oldest player in the Lakers starting lineup.
He’s old enough that the LeBron James Museum will open next week in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. He’s both a museum piece and a standout performer among players nearly half his age.
Earlier this season, he agreed to a plan with coach Hamm to limit him to 30 minutes in four quarters of 48 games, a half-hearted concession to his age. The plan failed after a few games. James has played more minutes than anyone else.
Some people seem dissatisfied with the longevity of great men, and times of catastrophe may strike them. Those people believe that if James can’t win another championship, what’s the point? I’m not one of them.
I admire athletes like James and Andy Murray, not only for their refusal to surrender to time, but also for the victories they achieved early in their careers.
I don’t understand what people are saying about Murray, James or Lewis Hamilton (also 38 and about to drive an uncompetitive Mercedes Benz around the streets of Las Vegas) because in the prime of their careers Then tarnishing their legacy by competing.
They have not tarnished their legacy. They are beautifying them. They are adding more layers to them.
When age makes your odds better, you still have to compete; even if you know your chances of winning are getting slimmer, you still have to persist; even if you know that your younger opponents have inherent advantages, you still have to work hard. ——This is the spirit of perseverance and perseverance. Courage that brings new levels of greatness to great people.
James still made a difference Sunday. At first, he sat calmly on the sidelines in the last row of Lakers bench players. The only emotion he showed in the first half was reacting to the Lakers’ 3-pointer, crossing his left arm over his chest and tapping three fingers on his right arm.
He became more active in the third quarter as the game slowly began to tilt toward the Lakers. Now, he’s jumping off his stool and onto the court to celebrate the big moment. When the game ended and the Lakers sealed the victory 116-110, he hurried out of the arena and left the stage to his teammates.
As the crowd poured out of the exits, they saw a giant digital billboard on South Figueroa Street that played out the astonishing longevity of the Lakers superstar who refused to take a step back.
The sign read, “Last Generation There Was LeBron James,” alongside a photo of James about to dunk in a Cleveland Cavaliers jersey. The screen then changes to show a photo of him in the exact same pose wearing a Lakers jersey. The slogan has also changed. “This generation has LeBron James,” it said.
The cruel ending of Rapinoe’s farewell
Venice Beach sports bars have 10 to 12 big screens. Most of them are showing off college football action Saturday night from Texas, Oregon and Ohio State, young men who are at the beginning of their careers and have everything ahead of them.
One screen was showing the NWSL Championship match between the OL Reign, a women’s soccer team from San Diego, and NY/NJ Gotham FC.
The game was a battle between Gotham’s Ali Krieger and Reign’s Megan Rapinoe, who is now At 38, this was her last game before retiring.
A few minutes into the game, Rapinoe slipped while pressing his opponent and fell. That’s it.
She knew immediately it was over. She heard a snap from her heels. She tore her Achilles tendon. She was helped on the field, her game and her career were over.
Rapinoe, like other athletes, polarizes opinion. Men who fear women’s football invading their world seem particularly threatened by her.
But she left this brutal testimonial with grace, honor and dignity. “Maybe I’m just a bigger vessel for life,” she said after the Reign’s 2-1 loss.
“You don’t always get the perfect ending.”
Pickleball craze hits America
Many of my friends in England are obsessed with cricket and play whenever they can. Pickleball courts are everywhere in Santa Monica and Venice Beach.
I love both sports partly because they are essentially simpler versions of tennis.
Hayes will polish American diamonds
The NSW Championship was one of the highest quality women’s matches I have ever seen.
When I saw the brilliance of Rose Lavelle in OL Reign’s midfield, and the speed, cunning and intelligence of Gotham’s best player on the right wing, Midge Purce, it dawned on me that Under Emma Hayes, the U.S. Women’s National Team now has a coach who can get the best out of a talented group of players.
English football may soon regret losing Hayes, for more reasons than one.