Lakers: NBA Insider Compares LeBron James Scoring Run to Kobe Bryant
LeBron James is having one of his finest scoring seasons in his 19 years in the NBA. Currently, LeBron is averaging 29.5 points per game - his fourth highest average for his career. It's his highest per game scoring output since his 2009-2010 season with Cleveland.
Unfortunately, LeBron keeps scoring bunches of points and the Lakers keep losing. The Lakers only two wins after the All-Star break have required LeBron to score at least 50 points. Essentially, LeBron needs to put up Wilt Chamberlain numbers to get the Lakers back to relevancy.
As LeBron continues to grind, The Ringers Bill Simmons made an interesting comparison. He opined that LeBron's recent scoring run in the face of futility is slightly reminiscent of Kobe's iron-willed performance in the 2012-2013 season.
"Shades of that year, and hopefully this doesn't happen with LeBron, but when Kobe was on that tear where he just started playing 48 minutes a game. Remember that? Then, he finally got hurt. He just said 'I'm not coming out anymore. I'm just putting up crazy stats.' I wonder if LeBron is going to shift into that."
The Lakers acquired Dwight Howard and Steve Nash in the summer prior to the 2012-2013. Like this current Lakers team, expectations were sky high coming into the season. Like this current Lakers team, the 2012-2013 Lakers did not meet them.
LA was 25-29 entering the 2013 All-Star break and out of the playoff picture at the time. Then, Kobe went full Mamba Mode. After the break, Kobe played 39.2 MPG and scored 28.5 PPG.
He had four games with 40 or more points, played more than 44 minutes in five games, and the Lakers went 18-8. He single-handedly vaulted the Lakers to the playoffs, but the wear and tear caught up to him. Kobe ruptured his achilles in the 80th game of the season against the Warriors. The Lakers finished 45-37 (8th seed) and with Kobe sidelined, got swept by the Spurs.
The comparison holds some water. The Lakers are barely in the playoff picture. They're ahead of the tenth-seed Pelicans by a game for the right to host a play-in game. LeBron's minutes have up-ticked slightly since the All-Star Break (37.4 MPG), and he's boosted his scoring average from 29.1 to 31.4.
LeBron is scoring as many points as possible, and playing a ton of minutes, to keep the Lakers playoffs hopes alive.
For LeBron's and the Lakers sake, hopefully this version ends differently.
