SI:AM | The Biggest Comeback of LeBron’s Career

Plus, what NFL players really think of their teams.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I went to bed after the third quarter of the Lakers-Clippers game thinking it was over. So much for that.

In today’s SI:AM:

⛹️‍♀️ More history for Caitlin Clark

💍 Ohtani’s first ring

📝 NFL report cards

If you’re reading this on SI.com, click here to subscribe to receive SI:AM in your inbox every weekday.

He’s still got it

Even at 39 years old, LeBron James is capable of putting the team on his back and singlehandedly engineering a stunning comeback.

James and the Los Angeles Lakers stormed back from a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit last night to defeat rival Los Angeles Clippers as James outscored the entire Clippers team by himself.

LeBron had 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting (5-of-8 from three), four assists and two rebounds in the final quarter. The Clippers scored just 16 points, led by Kawhi Leonard with six.

The Clippers scored the first basket of the fourth quarter to take a 98–77 lead, but then the Lakers’ comeback began. The Lakers went on a 19–3 run to cut the deficit to five points with 7:33 left to play. A few minutes later, the Lakers surged into the lead with a 12–0 run and never looked back, holding on for a 116–112 win. What a way to close out this era of the Lakers-Clippers rivalry. (The game was the final meeting between the two teams before the Clippers move to their own arena next season.)

The comeback was all James. He scored or assisted on 30 of the team’s 39 points in the final quarter. The highlights are incredible to watch. He scored in every way imaginable. He knocked down pull-up threes, drove to the rim, fought for offensive rebounds and hit a deep catch-and-shoot three from 29 feet.

My favorite play of the comeback, though, has to be LeBron’s assist to D’Angelo Russell for a clutch three with about a minute left on the clock. The Lakers led 111–108 and the Clippers badly needed a stop. They doubled James late in the shot clock, but he leaped in the air and fired an overhead pass to an open Russell in the corner. The pass was perfect. It hit Russell right where he needed to have his hands to get the shot up. Daniel Theis did a good job closing out on Russell to contest the shot, but because LeBron put the ball exactly where it needed to be, Russell got the shot off in the blink of an eye. He buried it, forcing the Clippers to take a timeout.

LeBron also made an even more important play. With the Lakers clinging to a 114–112 lead with 9.3 seconds on the clock, the Clippers put the ball in the hands of Leonard. James played tight defense, though, and forced Leonard to miss the game-tying attempt. LeBron then collected the rebound and hit Cam Reddish with an outlet pass, leading to a dunk that put the game away.

The comeback was the biggest of James’s career and the Lakers’ largest since Kobe Bryant hit a buzzer beater against the Memphis Grizzlies on April 4, 2003, to cap a 23-point fourth-quarter comeback.

“It’s just a zone, and you can’t really describe it,” James said of his clutch effort. “You wish you could stay in it forever, but obviously it checks out once the game ends. But during it, you don’t feel anything. It’s just like a superpower feel.”

The Lakers are lucky that LeBron, in his 20th season in the NBA, is still capable of flexing his superpowers. The team continues to hover around .500, improving to 32–28 with last night’s win. That’s good for ninth place in the West, meaning the Lakers appear destined again for the crapshoot of the play-in tournament. Last night’s game showed again that the Lakers will only go as far as LeBron is able to carry them.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Matt Krohn/USA TODAY Sports

• Albert Breer pulled out the most interesting findings from the NFLPA’s annual team report cards.
• The Chiefs may have won two straight Super Bowls, but they were next-to-last in the report card rankings. Gilberto Manzano has more on players’ complaints about Kansas City.
• Tyler Lauletta has the full list of teams that scored F-minus grades in the NFLPA survey.
• Rohan Nadkarni makes the case for considering the Cavaliers as a serious NBA title contender.
• Stephanie Apstein was at Cubs camp yesterday, where Cody Bellinger spoke to the press for the first time since re-signing with the team (on a deal significantly less lucrative than what he was reportedly seeking at the beginning of the offseason).
• Pat Forde argues that the latest proposed change to the College Football Playoff would be an unnecessary advantage for some of the most powerful conferences in the sport.
• Iowa’s Caitlin Clark broke another scoring record, surpassing Lynette Woodard to become the all-time leading scorer in major college women’s basketball history.
• The Chiefs superfan known as ChiefsAholic pleaded guilty to bank robbery charges and faces a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison.
• Shohei Ohtani announced on Instagram that he got married.

The top five...

… things I saw last night:

5. Luka Dončić’s triple double on his birthday (30 points, 16 assists, 11 rebounds).

4. LeBron’s oddly smooth handstand after getting fouled.

3. Connor McDavid’s overtime game-winner to snap a 10-game goalless drought.

2. Tyrese Haliburton’s assist off the backboard to Obi Toppin.

1. Tennessee star Dalton Knecht’s 39 points in the Volunteers’ win over Auburn. He outscored the Tigers by himself 25–21 in the final 12 minutes of the game.

SIQ

Early baseball player Dickey Pearce, who was born on this day in 1836, is credited with introducing what now-common element of the game?

• The overhand throw
• Sliding into bases
• Wearing a hat
• The bunt

Yesterday’s SIQ: Luka Dončić, who turned 25 on Feb. 28, has scored the second most points of any NBA player born in Slovenia. Who’s first on that list?

• Beno Udrih
• Goran Dragić
• Toni Kukoč
• Rasho Nesterović

Answer: Goran Dragić. He scored 12,568 points in 15 NBA seasons. Dončić has scored 10,855 in five-and-a-half NBA seasons.

There have been 11 players from Slovenia to play in the NBA. Dončić and Vlatko Čančar of the Denver Nuggets are the only currently active.