LeBron eyes return to summit in 21st NBA season
23rd October 2023
Lakers are hoping to recapture an NBA crown they last won in the pandemic-disrupted 2019-2020 season.

- James, who turns 39 in December, will head into the new season as the oldest active player in the NBA.
- But his statistics from the 2022-2023 campaign indicate he remains one of the most formidable individual talents in the league.
- He averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 55 games before leading the Lakers to the brink of the finals, in a season that saw him eclipse Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA's all-time leading scorer.
LeBron James heads into 21st season in the
NBA hungrier than ever as he looks to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a
record-breaking 18th championship.
James, 38, finished last season in a
downbeat mood, hinting at possible retirement after the Lakers were
comprehensively beaten by the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference finals.
But a summer of rest and a reloaded roster
has left James brimming with optimism as the Lakers launch the new season with
a demanding road game in Denver on Tuesday.
Nowhere has James' renewed sense of
determination been more evident than in the Lakers pre-season.
Christian Wood, one of several new
additions that have bolstered the Lakers roster in the off-season, revealed
that James has routinely been the first player to arrive for training.
Determined to make a good impression, Wood
said he had arrived early at a voluntary player-run training camp in San Diego
recently -- only to discover James had beaten him to it.
"I tried to be one of the first ones
in... first person I see is LeBron James, already in a full sweat," Wood
told ESPN.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka,
meanwhile, says James, who turns 39 in December, has been training "like a
rookie."
"He's been doing 6 a.m.
workouts," Pelinka said. "Probably been in our building as much as
any player this off-season.
"Any team LeBron has played for, it
has been pretty uniform that his work sets the tone."
James will head into the new season as the
oldest active player in the NBA.
But his statistics from the 2022-2023
campaign indicate he remains one of the most formidable individual talents in
the league, when fit and firing.
Last year he averaged 28.9 points, 8.3
rebounds and 6.8 assists in 55 games before leading the Lakers to the brink of
the finals, in a season that saw him eclipse Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA's
all-time leading scorer.
The Lakers front office staff are mindful,
however, that even allowing for James' extraordinary longevity, the four-time
NBA champion cannot carry the team on his own.
Accordingly, the Lakers have added
offensive depth to the core of the reshaped roster that relied on steely
defense to turn around last season's campaign.
As well as Wood, the Lakers added the likes
of Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes.
"I think the sky is the limit for what
we will be able to do," Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said.
"We added a lot of depth, a lot of
guys that have skill, size and athleticism. I look forward to all of that
coming together."
James, meanwhile, is confident that the
Lakers have put the pieces in place to recapture an NBA crown they last won in
the pandemic-disrupted 2019-2020 season. One more title would see the Lakers
pull clear of the Boston Celtics with 18 championships.
"I'm very optimistic about how we can
pick up from (last season)," James said at the Lakers recent media day.
"With continuity and the chemistry,
there shouldn't be much teaching. We're returning a lot of our core. We have a
lot of guys that know the system that can pick up where we left off.
"I'm excited about us returning our
core and bringing in a lot of very, very good players. But there's no
substitution for work and we have to put in the work.
"If we do that, we'll give ourselves a
chance to compete every single night at the highest level."
While James has brushed off questions about
whether this season could be his last, he is already scanning the horizon with
next year's Paris Olympics in mind, according to recent reports.
James says staying healthy in his body and
mind will be central to his performances this term.
"It's all about my health and my
mindset," James told ESPN recently.
"However your mind is, everything else
falls into place. So, keeping my mind fresh, keeping it in tune, keeping it
intact for the marathon will allow my body to perform after that."
© Agence France-Presse