Lakers: How much does LeBron have left in tank for Game 6?

The Los Angeles Lakers are on the brink of elimination. After suffering a blowout loss in Game 5 to the Phoenix Suns, the team has to win back-to-back games (potentially without Anthony Davis) to keep its championship hopes alive.

Regardless of whether Davis suits up, the Lakers will likely need two herculean efforts from LeBron James to have any hopes of fending off the Phoenix Suns. Some people felt James would summon this kind of performance in Game 5, but it simply wasn’t in the cards. The four-time MVP struggled to score in the paint, shooting just 3-of-7 from the floor, and while he got his jumper going in the second half, it was too little too late.

Although he missed a significant stretch of the regular season due to injury, LeBron hasn’t had a 30-point game since March 18th. It’s safe to say the King will need to eclipse this threshold for the Lakers to have a fighting chance.

But how much does LeBron James have left in the tank for the Los Angeles Lakers? He’s a 36-year-old dealing with an injury, and few players have logged more miles over the last few seasons.

Since 2013-14, the NBA has had player tracking technology in arenas that has enabled the collection of a treasure trove of advanced statistics, many of which are publicly available. For example, fans can see the actual distance (in miles) each player moves on the court in a given game or season.

It turns out NBA players don’t even run a 5k (3.1 miles) each game. In the last eight seasons, no one has averaged more than CJ McCollum’s 2.78 miles per game in 2019-20. This clearly undersells, however, the grind players go through on a game-to-game basis. These miles can really add up, particularly for those that play a lot of games, a lot of minutes, and undergo lengthy postseason runs.

LeBron James checks all of these boxes. In fact, since 2013-14, only one player has “traveled” more miles in the regular season and postseason combined (interact with the timeline on the chart below!).

Heading into this postseason, LeBron James had logged 1,578 combined miles in the regular season and playoffs, one of only seven players to eclipse the 1,500-mile mark over this stretch

1. Damian Lillard: 1,669 miles

2. LeBron James: 1,578

3. DeMar DeRozan: 1,562

4. Harrison Barnes: 1,529

5. James Harden: 1,529

6. Bradley Beal: 1,501

7. Jimmy Butler: 1,500

All of these miles can surely take a toll on players. As the above chart reflects, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson led the “race” for several seasons, and each (particularly Thompson) has missed significant time due to injury these past few years. Is this a coincidence?

As superhuman as LeBron has seemed at times, it shouldn’t have been overly surprising that he suffered an ankle injury this past regular season — one that caused him to miss six weeks. Not only has he endured lengthy postseason runs year after year, but the Lakers had the shortest offseason ever after emerging from the Orlando “bubble” as NBA champions.

While LeBron has been available this entire postseason — and has been explosive at times — he clearly isn’t 100 percent. And while it would be unreasonable to expect him to look like his 30-year-old self, he isn’t even the same guy who was arguably the MVP frontrunner earlier this season.

So where do LeBron and the Lakers go from here? If Davis is able to return and give the team a boost, and role players finally get a few shots to fall, a Game 6 victory at home is within reach. The team clearly needs more from LeBron, however. Despite his physical limitations, he surely is capable of meeting the moment, but given his injury and all the miles he’s racked up, it will be a lot harder for him to do so.

(Credit to NBA.com for statistics, made chart using Flourish)