NBA 2021 Anthony Davis’ injury will require more responsibility with the Lakers
Reuters
Lhe conceptions of high performance athletes have changed in recent years. Roger Federer Y Rafa Nadal in tennis, Cristiano Ronaldo in football and Tom Brady in American football they are changing the notion of when an athlete begins the final stretch of their career, conquering their respective sports at ages that other athletes in the past had retired for several years.
LeBron James falls into this same category. At 36, the Lakers player continues to reinvent himself and achieved his fourth ring in the bubble, first with Los Angeles. Months later, fate gives him an opportunity to hunt down the records of Michael Jordan and add arguments in the discussion of the best of all time.
The Lakers have the second best record in the NBA after going through a third of the season. Only the Utah Jazz and their 18 victories in the last 19 meetings surpass Los Angeles’ 22-5. LeBron is already in the MVP conversation, but now will have to try to keep the team high in the West without Anthony Davis.
‘La Ceja’ left the game against Denver on Sunday and was diagnosed with an Achilles tendon strain. He got off the breakup but is expected to be out until after the All-Star Game to heal an injury that he carried in recent weeks. So LeBron will have to carry more responsibilities for several weeks.
According Sports Betting Dime, which keeps track of the odds of various casinos to win the MVP, LeBron was the favorite since the end of January, beating Nikola Jokic for team performance, as Jokic wins the statistical duel on all(26.5 vs 25.5 in points, 11.5 vs 8 in rebounds, 8.7 vs 8 in assists, 1.5 vs 1.1 in steals, 0.7 vs 0.5 in blocks, 56.4% vs 49.8% from the field, 85.8% vs 71% from free throws and they are tied in 38.1% in triples), which is why Basketball Reference He has a better chance of winning the MVP in his projections, but the Nuggets are 15-11 and the Lakers 21-7. If Denver doesn’t rebound, the Serb could hardly catch up with James.
LeBron has the ability to write the narrative for the season, of keeping the Lakers close to the best in the conference without their second-best player, Davis, who was elected to the NBA’s best team last season. This will require a rise in numbers, something James did last year at a similar point and had him as the best player before the coronavirus hiatus, making arguments that it should be the MVP and not Giannis, although the Greek finished with better figures in a team with a better record and deservedly took the award.
James already has in his windows the MVP of 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013. If he wins it now, 8 years after the last one, would tie Michael Jordan and Bill Russell for second all-time, all behind the 6 of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the figure would no longer be so difficult to reach. Thinking of surpassing him would not be as far-fetched as it is now. It is hard but not impossible.
If he won the MVP this season, LeBron would do so at an age when MJ was in the middle of his second and penultimate retirement., at a level that ‘His Majesty’ did not have after returning to the courts. The 23rd of the Lakers has already said that he is inspired by Brady and has the worm of wanting to play alongside his son Bronny in the league. You spend millions on caring for your body each year, so a massive decline doesn’t look feasible in the near future. By that time, four years down the road, he could win someone else to continue to exceed Jordan’s career accomplishments. 2021 is a great opportunity and we could see a LeBron in superlative mode in the coming weeks securing him fifth.
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