James Worthy backs LeBron James to come back strong and lead the Lakers on another title challenge for in the 2020-21 season.
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LeBron James has sealed his place on the Mount Rushmore of basketball through 18 years in the NBA. A ton of sports media people have argued James as the GOAT over the past 5-7 years. These arguments bank chiefly on his record at making Finals and his longevity.
Overall, many believe James to have one of the top 3 greatest resumes in NBA playoff history. He’s certainly up there among 21st century players – few will argue that James has passed Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan in the all-time rankings.
But contending for championships year after year does tend to take its toll. After all, James has been a threat to make the Finals for 15 years now. He played nearly 100 games every season from 2010-11 till 2018-19, when he went down with a groin injury.
He suffered yet another debilitating injury to his lower extremities in the final third of the regular season. A collision with Solomon Hill meant that James was out for 6-7 weeks with a high ankle sprain.
Compounding the Lakers’ struggles was the fact that his co-star missed the majority of the season with his own injury problems. Anthony Davis managed to come back near 90% of his fitness by the playoffs. He also produced 2 gems in the Lakers’ 2 first round wins.
But ultimately, they were unable to hold off the Suns when AD went down with injury. With no reliable shooting on his roster, no reliable rim protector to keep the team hemorrhaging points and LeBron’s ankle giving him repeated trouble, they went down with a whimper, getting blown out in the final 3 games of the season.
James Worthy backs LeBron James to get back to his top form this year
James Worthy recently appeared in an interview to talk about the Lakers’ disappointing end to the season. In his mind, the NBA didn’t give his former team a level playing field for the start of this season.
LeBron James had rage-tweeted a message regarding the problems caused by this Covid-shortened season a few days back. Worthy seemed to be in complete agreement with the Lakers star with regards to how the situation had been bungled by the NBA:
“LeBron James knows better than anybody what he’s been through with his body, being in the finals year-in and year-out more than anybody. So he understands that there is a clock tick.”
“So if you rush it, and that’s what happened in the bubble. Guys were mentally out of way, no fans, away from families, they did have to play and turn around in 71 days. It squeezed the hell out of them.”
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