While golfing recently, LeBron James mulled over a staggering stat.
He has faced about 37% of all players in NBA history.
“I seen some s–t that made me feel so old the other day,” James said on an appearance on “Bob Does Sports,” before repeating that shocking number.
Well, James is about to get a lot more gray hairs in his beard.
Not only have the Lakers lost Luka Doncic to a Grade 2 left hamstring strain that he sustained Thursday against the Thunder. But an MRI Saturday revealed that Austin Reaves sustained a Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury in that game, too. Both players could miss around a month — or more.
It’s a brutal turn of events for a team that had gone 16-2 heading into Thursday’s game and was considered championship contenders.
Now, it would be shocking if the Lakers survive the first round of the playoffs.
It’s time for James to dust off the cobwebs from his superhero cape that he used to carry 10 NBA teams to the Finals.
Before James found out the Lakers would be without Reaves, he was asked how things change for him without Doncic.
“The mindset changes a little bit, for sure,” he told reporters Saturday at Lakers practice.
Without Reaves too? His mind must be short-circuiting.
James spent the last month playing behind Doncic and Reaves, filling in the team’s holes. Now, he’s dealing with a gaping chasm.
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It’s in the form of 56.8 points, 12.7 rebounds and 13.8 assists that Doncic and Reaves averaged this season.
Losing Doncic — who averaged a league-high 37.5 points, 8 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.3 steals in March — was a gut punch.
Having to also play without Reaves is form of decapitation for a team that seemingly had no ceiling a few days ago.
The truth is without Doncic, James would’ve become the Lakers’ first option even if Reaves’ injury hadn’t been so severe. Reaves is largely unproven in the postseason and infamously struggled last April.
But not having Reaves on the court as the Lakers’ second option is devastating for LA’s offense. Things just went from bad to catastrophic.
James is averaging career-lows in points (20.6) and usage rate (26.6) this season because it became obvious that the Big 3 functioned best when he deferred to both Doncic and Reaves.
“It is a sacrifice,” James said March 12. “I know what I’m capable of still doing as an individual.”
Well, now it’s time for him to show the world what arguably the greatest player of all-time can do at this geriatric stage of his career.
At age 41, most NBA players have long retired. James will be called upon to carry a team on his arthritic feet past a grueling gauntlet of Western Conference superstars to four wins in a seven-game series.
The Lakers, who have five regular season games remaining, have already clinched the playoffs. Reaves will likely miss 4-6 weeks. The average time a player misses for Doncic’s injury is 30 days. The playoffs big April 18, and here’s to guessing the Lakers are going to want to be conservative with their franchise’s cornerstone players.
So, James it’s you.
It’s a Herculean task.
Really, it’s impossible.
Look, James is still great. Last month, he had a triple-double with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists on the second leg of a back-to-back against the Heat on March 19, following finishing with 30 points on 13-for-14 shooting the previous night against the Rockets.
But there’s no way he can make up for the firepower of the team’s top two stars. James is the oldest player in the league. Heck, it would’ve been a really tough ask for him 10 years ago.
This is all a shame for so many reasons.
Doncic was having an MVP-caliber season. Reaves looked like an All-Star. The Lakers were soaring.
But there’s another major storyline: This could potentially have major ramifications on James’ future.
James still hasn’t decided whether he’s going to retire after this season — or return next year for the Lakers or another team.
It was obvious that whatever happened this postseason was going to have a major influence on that decision.
Now, with both Doncic and Reaves out, James is facing a completely different reality than he was days earlier.
It’s heartbreaking.
Over the course of a few dreadful days, everything went from sunny to dreary for the Big 3.
And James is now alone having to sort through the darkness.
