LeBron James has achieved countless firsts in his lengthy NBA career, and they just keep coming. Earlier this week, the 40-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star became the NBA’s first 50,000-point man following the Lakers’ game against the New Orleans Pelicans. But, it doesn’t stop there.
The NBA took to X on Thursday, March 6, to pump up fans for the big Los Angeles Lakers vs. New York Knicks game Thursday night and announced that James is close to another big first.
LeBron James Getting Closer to Tim Duncan
Just a few hours before the start of the game, the NBA took to its official X account to announce that James is only one win away from surpassing San Antonio Spurs great Tim Duncan on the tally for the most regular-season wins. If he surpasses Duncan, he’ll be third all-time, just behind the iconic Robert Parish and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
“LeBron James is 1 win away from passing Tim Duncan for 3rd most all-time,” the NBA announced on X.
So, James could make history against the Knicks, which would make a rivalry win over New York extra sweet. The Lakers have gained momentum and gone to second place in the Western Conference, while the Knicks are currently third in the Eastern Conference. With those numbers, both teams are looking at Thursday’s matchup as critical in their road to the playoffs.
James has actually been playing with a left foot injury for several weeks, so it’s always a question as to if and how much he’ll play. Even with the injury, he’s averaging 24.9 points, 8.5 assists, and 8.0 rebounds per game, so the left foot issue hasn’t materialized into a bad showing on the court.
Heading into the Lakers vs. Knicks game, James has been listed as “probable” for the matchup, so fans and NBA analysts and experts should rest easy knowing he’ll probably be in the action.
That’s a good thing for Lakers fans, who want to see the team cement their spot as one of the strongest teams in the West.
‘Nobody Should Actively Want to Face the Los Angeles Lakers’
NBA expert and analyst Dan Favale of Bleacher Report has his thoughts on today’s Lakers with James and Luka Dončić in the fold.
“Nobody should actively want to face the Los Angeles Lakers in a playoff series so long as Luka Dončić and LeBron James are both in uniform,” he states in a March 1 feature. “They are both high-IQ postseason psychopaths capable of manipulating most defenses even when they’re not operating at 100 percent.”
However, Favale states that “top-five championship odds is nevertheless a stretch. The Dončić trade is immediately tantalizing—and already paying dividends. But it remains a move geared more toward the future, particularly when the roster is so incomplete.”
He also questions the team’s defense, stating, “is this really a defense you can trust in the playoffs? With this center rotation? More critically, is this a team you can trust when Luka, despite turning in a couple of good performances, doesn’t yet look like First Team All-NBA Luka?”
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