Toronto Raptors just 1 of 5 biggest takeaways from 1st month of 2019-20 NBA season
1. LeBron James is still very good (and so are the Lakers)
The notion of being washed for LeBron James doesn’t reside on the same standing as it does for any other NBA player.
Heading into this season, he was still widely regarded as one of the best players in the world, but his standing as the undisputed top dog dwindled quite a bit, the result of an injury-riddled, playoff-less season in his first stint in L.A. at age 34.
Having returned to full strength and with Anthony Davis by his side, James has the Los Angeles Lakers back where they’ve been accustomed to for the better part of their existence: At the top of the Western Conference standings with a 12-2 record, also the best in the NBA.
Nowadays, LeBron’s re-energized body has him dominating like he never left, but he’s also reinvented himself to impact the game in different ways.
James is leading the league in assists with 11.1 per game as the de facto point guard while contributing what has become a routine 25.0 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. His improved effort on defense is significant –he’s top-20 in defensive win shares — as is a noticeable increase in morale.
Approaching his 35th birthday and still climbing up the all-time minutes list, LeBron’s days atop the NBA’s hierarchy are numbered. Father Time snatches even the most supreme of athletes eventually, and James will be no exception.
That time, as vehemently as some predicted, isn’t now. Instead, James is humming along just fine with individual numbers rivaling any of his superstar contemporaries, with the plan to bring the Lakers back to their past glory moving smoothly and on schedule.