LeBron James made his debut this Tuesday, Nov. 18, his eighth season with the Los Angeles Lakers and the 23rd of his NBA career, after missing the first 14 games with a sciatic nerve injury.
James, 40, made his long-awaited starting debut in a matchup against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. He is the first player in NBA history to play 23 seasons.
Lakers shine without LeBron
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In his absence, the Lakers have posted a solid 10-4 start to the season, with Luka Doncic averaging 34.9 points, 8.9 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game.
This is the last season that LeBron James has in his contract with the Lakers and, although he has not made it official, everything points to the fact that it will be the season of his retirement.
The four-time NBA champion, four-time MVP and 21-time All-Star has all but given up on individual end-of-season awards.
He could only miss three games between now and April to reach the minimum of 65.
El Rey’ is back
LeBron James made his 23rd NBA season debut in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 140-126 win over the Utah Jazz.
While the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 111-101 without Victor Wembanyama and the Detroit Pistons added their eleventh straight victory and reign in the East.
LeBron James, the all-time leading scorer in NBA history among many other records, became the first player with 23 seasons in the league, the last eight with the Lakers (11-4).
After missing the first 14 games with a sciatic nerve injury, James returned in a big way, starting and posting a double-double with 11 points and 12 assists.
Also finishing with double-doubles for the Lakers were Luka Doncic (37 points and 10 assists) and Deandre Ayton (20 points and 14 rebounds), while Austin Reaves contributed 26 points.
For the Jazz (5-9), Keyonte George finished with 34 points and Lauri Markkanen had 31.
Both went into halftime with over 20 goals, but were deflated, in the same vein as their team, in the second half.
With information from Efe
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