NBA MVP Ladder 3.0 all about respecting elders; LeBron James remains on top

LeBron James, who earlier this season dismissed the notion of load management, missed his first two games of the season over the last four weeks, missing what turned out to be the worst loss of the season for the Los Angeles Lakers, a 24-point drubbing at home on Dec. 22 by the Denver Nuggets, and later missed their win at Oklahoma City on Jan. 11 with flu-like symptoms.

When he played, he’s been… LeBron James. He just keeps rolling along in this, his 17th NBA season, as a guy who turned 35 back on Dec. 30. In the 10 games he played over the last four weeks, James averaged 24.2 points, 11.6 assists, 8.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 35.3 minutes per game, shooting 47.6 percent overall and 31.7 percent on 6.0 3-point tries nightly.

The Lakers were 10-2 over that span, 9-1 with James available. In 39 games this season, James is averaging 25.4 points, an NBA-best 10.9 assists, 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 34.9 minutes a night, shooting .491/.346/.694. He’s on pace to fall below 70 percent from the line for the third time in four seasons, but just the fourth time in his career.

James’ last 10 games have included a pair of triple-doubles, a career-high 16 rebounds in a Jan. 10 win at Dallas and a career-high tying 19 assists in Wednesday’s loss to the Orlando Magic. James also had 19 assists in a win over the Atlanta Hawks while he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Feb. 9, 2018.

If he is able to lead the NBA in assists, he would be the first non-guard ever to lead the league in assists per game (Wilt Chamberlain led the league in total assists in 1967-68, but finished behind Oscar Robertson on a per-game basis.

And given Los Angeles is well on its way to reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2013 and could finish with the top seed in the Western Conference for the first time since 2009-10, the last time the Lakers won the title, it’s not out of line to think James has a legitimate shot at becoming to be named NBA MVP after his 14th season.

In 1998-99, Karl Malone was older than James is this season, but was in just his 14th NBA season, having spent three seasons playing college basketball at Louisiana Tech.