LeBron James is one of the greatest scorers in NBA history. Except this season, he’s gotten off to a slow start, averaging a career low 16.5 points through eight games played. It’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen from the King, and some are wondering if it’s a sign that he needs to retire at the end of the year.
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However, Carmelo Anthony isn’t too worried about LeBron. In fact, he believes that if he wanted to, James could average 30 points a night. A wild assumption, given that he hasn’t reached that figure since 2021-22.
“If he said, ‘Yo, I’mma go average 30.’ He’s gonna do it. In year 23,” Carmelo professed on his podcast 7PM in Brooklyn. “Bro, he was in year 22, averaging 27, 26. It ain’t that much changed since 4 months ago. It’s just more that he’s taken a step back.”
It was an excellent point, as the LA Lakers have started well as a team so far. Even though LeBron is averaging the third most points per game behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, they’re still 17-7. Since returning from injury, James has done an excellent job at fitting into the team around him rather than commanding all of the touches.
Nevertheless, Melo still thinks that if he wanted to, LeBron could average 30 a night.
“I’m just saying, if he wanted to, he could go out there and average 30 points,” Melo said.
The Hall of Famer then made a crazy statement that most average players would scoff at.
“It’s not hard to average 30 points if that’s what you do today,” Melo added. “If I want to go average 30 points, I’m conditioned enough to go average 30 points. It’s easy to score 25 points today if that’s what you do. It’s not a coincidence that these guys are scoring the way that they are- that’s what the game is inviting,”
Scoring is indeed up league-wide in the NBA right now. But that doesn’t mean that LeBron could average 30 points per game if he wanted to. This season, his age has started to show at times. He started the year with sciatica, is shooting just 46% from the field and 30% from three, and in turn has a career low output in points.
Of course, it’s only been 8 games, and LeBron is still getting back up to speed coming off the injury. But with Doncic averaging 33 points per game and Reaves averaging 27, it’s going to be interesting to see how he fits in when it comes to scoring moving forward. The good news is that James is one of the best playmakers of all time, too, and if he needs to forfeit more shots to pass others open, surely, he will be okay with doing that.
