On his 38th birthday, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James informed his teammates that he had a surprise for them before their game against the Hawks on Friday night. After Los Angeles had dropped its previous six games, he was going to hit 40 points to bring them back on track.
LeBron James proved prescient, finishing with 47 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists in a 130-121 comeback victory over Atlanta, proving that age is simply a number to target and surpass in the box score.
“I’ve been scoring 30 and it hasn’t worked so … try 40,” LeBron James said. “And we got a win. “It’s math.”
It was captivating for the most of the evening after recovering from a 1-for-5 start. James ended with an 18-for-27 field goal percentage to lead Los Angeles to their biggest comeback victory of the year after falling down by 15 points in the first half.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham said, “The dude is nothing short of phenomenal, amazing, “But it’s something I expect. Like, it doesn’t blow me away. It’s just something I expect from him. It’s just like, ‘Damn! Carry on.'”
LeBron James didn’t simply forecast the 40-point explosion to bet on himself. He expressed his anger with the Lakers two days prior to the performance, stating, “I want to win and give myself a chance to win and still compete for championships.” Many thought James was putting pressure on the Los Angeles front staff to make moves to strengthen the team.
His message didn’t appear to have hurt his teammates; rather, it seemed to have touched.
Thomas Bryant, who filled in for the injured Anthony Davis and finished with 19 points and 17 rebounds, followed his impressive performance by saying, “To see that performance from him, you just don’t want to take greatness for granted like that.”
According to Ham, it caused a general increase in focus. Against Atlanta, six Lakers scored in the double figures.
He finished off his birthday celebration by finishing the game with 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the fourth quarter. He then removed his gold No. 6 suit, signed it, and handed it to rapper 2 Chainz who was watching from courtside.
“I don’t think anyone took that as a slight,” Ham said. “I think they took it as, ‘You know what? He’s right. We need to pick up our stuff up and really try to apply it in unison, all pulling in the same direction and go compete our butts off.”
Russell Westbrook, who had 14 points, 11 assists, and created a pivotal eight-second run in the last minute to increase Los Angeles’ lead from three to seven points, used an old LeBron James marketing slogan to sum up the game. Westbrook had a layup, a steal, and an assist on a Bryant layup.
According to Stats & Information’s, in games played on his birthday, LeBron James improved to 5-4 all-time. In comparison to Michael Jordan and Jamal Crawford, who both had 51 points, it was the third-most points ever scored by a player who was 38 years old or older.
James dominated the Hawks 18 years and 278 days after he first reached the 40-point mark while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, breaking Jordan’s record for the longest time between a player’s first and final 40-point game.
LeBron James remarked, “I feel better than [he felt at] 18, “I didn’t know what I could become at 18. But I just knew if I continued to put in the work, I continued to be true to the game, then I could be one of the greatest players to ever play this game. I just always believed that. …
“There are times when I’m on the floor where I do feel like a kid again. That’s for sure.”
The words “HBD to the man in the arena” were written on top of a chocolate-chip cookie cake that Lakers staff members enjoyed in the visitor’s locker room at State Farm Arena.
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