“LeBron James hasn’t averaged 30 points since he was 23 years old”: How the Lakers superstar has reached a new prime 14 years later

LeBron James is currently averaging 30 points and leading the scoring title race; a point average he hasn’t achieved since he was 23 years old. 

The fact that LeBron James is 37 years old and is playing at the level he currently is an astounding fact that is hammered in on NBA fans on a daily basis. The frequency with which this statistic is reiterated over and over again shouldn’t take away from the fact that a 37 year old is averaging more points than players 10 years younger than him. 

It’s clear that James is gunning for that scoring title as snagging it will be quite the accolade to have on his resume. Not that he needs this scoring title by any means as he has a first ballot Hall-of-Fame type resume.

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However, as Brian Windhorst stated in a piece about a week ago, the case for LeBron James being the greatest player of all time will rest more on his longevity rather than his accolades staking up perfectly against other ‘GOAT’ candidates. 

LeBron James is doing something he hasn’t done since he was two removed from being able to legally drink alcohol. 

It feels as though LeBron James is breaking as scoring record every other day. He had two 50+ point games within a week of one another, he passed Karl Malone for 2nd all time in regular season scoring, and he became the leading scorer in NBA history across both the Playoffs and the regular season. 

He’s currently averaging exactly 30 points and is leading the scoring title race over Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

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Despite every iteration of the 2000s Cleveland Cavaliers being a team he’s had to carry to the Playoffs, LeBron only averaging 30+ points twice with them is surprising. Then again, the number ‘30’ looks shiny because it’s a round number as averaging 28 or 29 points isn’t any less impressive than averaging 30. 

Regardless, this is the first season since his 2007-08 season, when he was 23 years old that James is averaging 30+ points on a season. With the Lakers having to face quite the gauntlet down this home stretch of games, it’ll be interesting to see if his average holds up.