NBA<\/a> champion could only laugh.<\/p>\n\u201cI can fit in with anybody,\u201d James said. \u201cI don\u2019t even understand why that was even a question. What\u2019s wrong with these people out here? I can fit in right away with anybody. Just watching the guys the first 14 games, I was putting myself [mentally] in position while I was watching the games of how I could help the team and how I could be successful to help those guys. I\u2019m still able to gain a lot of eyes when I\u2019m driving the ball or have the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
About 30 minutes before tipoff, the team confirmed James would start for the 1,561st time in his 1,563rd regular-season games. He got a loud ovation when he was announced first in the Lakers\u2019 starting lineup.<\/p>\n
James didn\u2019t score in his first 11 minutes on court, but soon found his rhythm. After hitting a pair of three-pointers in the second quarter, he recorded eight assists in the second half \u2013 including six in just over three minutes early in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe played with the right spirit,\u201d Lakers coach JJ Redick said of James. \u201cVery unselfish all night. Was a willing passer. Didn\u2019t force it. Took his drives and his shots when they were there. The defense is going to pay attention to him, and I just thought he made a lot of great decisions tonight. Really great to have him back.\u201d<\/p>\n
James said on Monday that his body isn\u2019t in ideal game shape, but he was eager to get started on his latest milestone achievement. Redick was also impressed by James\u2019 fitness, saying he could have played more minutes if the Lakers hadn\u2019t already run away from Utah.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeBron is, for a lot of us that played with him, or some of these guys that grew up watching him, he\u2019s a superhero,\u201d said Redick, who played 15 NBA seasons. \u201cWhat he\u2019s been able to do in this game, there\u2019s a handful of guys that have been able to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
James is the first player ever to participate in 23 NBA seasons. Vince Carter played in 22 seasons in a career that concluded in 2020, while five players have made it through 21 seasons: Robert Parish, Kevin Willis, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki and 40-year-old Chris Paul, who currently plays for the Los Angeles Clippers. Philadelphia guard Kyle Lowry is in his 20th season.<\/p>\n
LeBron James embraces teammate Austin Reaves during Tuesday\u2019s game. Photograph: Jae C Hong\/AP<\/p>\n
With this debut, James is now just 48 games behind Parish\u2019s NBA record for regular-season games played (1,611). James already holds another NBA record with 1,855 regular-season and playoff games combined \u2013 58 more than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar \u2013 along with the record for most total minutes played.<\/p>\n
James has repeatedly said he isn\u2019t assuming this season will be his last, but he also hasn\u2019t decided whether he\u2019ll play another year. His most recent offseason was injury-plagued, with two months of recovery after spraining his knee ligament during the Lakers\u2019 first-round playoff loss to Minnesota followed by that painful bout of sciatica \u2013 pain in the nerves running from the buttocks and down the back of the legs.<\/p>\n
James is a four-time NBA Finals MVP who also has four league MVP awards and 21 All-Star selections. His career began with the Cleveland Cavaliers in October 2003, a year before the birth of his oldest son and current Lakers teammate, Bronny.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles\u2019 next game isn\u2019t until Sunday \u2013 also against the Jazz in Salt Lake City. The Lakers will have at least two practices before then, allowing James to continue to establish his chemistry and his role.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have to worry about chemistry,\u201d James said. \u201cThis is a great group. Everyone enjoys being around each another, sacrificing for one another, playing for one another. [I have to] get my wind, get my rhythm back. Missed a couple of chippies tonight that I\u2019m used to making. But that will come around.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LeBron James certainly didn\u2019t look like he had been away from the court for nearly seven months when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-301220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-nba","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}