LeBron James has not placed on a Heat jersey in eight years, however the NBA icon continues to be placing up the identical sort of performances that he did when he was main Miami to a pair of championships.
The former Heat star returns to his outdated stomping grounds Wednesday night time when Miami hosts the Los Angeles Lakers at 7:30 p.m.
“It’s always good to see ‘Bron, man,” Heat veteran Udonis Haslem stated. “Always good to see him playing at a high level, doing well. I wish him nothing but the best. We had so much success together. He’s always going to be one of my brothers out here.”
Although James is only a few days away from turning 38 years outdated, he’s nonetheless among the many league’s prime gamers. Entering Tuesday’s sport towards the Orlando Magic, he’s ninth within the NBA with 27.8 factors per sport and thirteenth within the league with 6.6 assists per sport. He can also be averaging 8.1 rebounds this season, which is thirtieth within the league.
“It’s crazy,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra stated. “He’s redefining what’s possible with human performance. The way he looks, it looks like he’s the Tom Brady of the NBA, that he could just keep on going.”
Haslem is the only remaining participant from the Heat’s Big Three groups that gained back-to-back titles and 4 straight convention championships, and he stated he nonetheless retains in contact together with his former teammate.
“We keep in touch, just general stuff, checking on each other’s families,” Haslem stated.
For youthful gamers, going up towards gamers like James means staying centered on their very own video games and avoiding getting star-struck.
“It’s always cool and great to play against the best players,” Miami fourth-year ahead Max Strus stated. “Obviously, he’s an icon, he’s a great player, but you don’t want to get caught up in that. You just want to play your game and hopefully, walk out with a win.”
James has been coping with some damage points. He has missed eight video games, and he’s listed as possible (left ankle soreness) for Los Angeles’ sport towards Orlando on Tuesday night time. However, he’s nonetheless averaging 36 minutes this season, and he has performed about 34 minutes in every of his final three video games.
Even although the Lakers have struggled and misplaced 4 straight video games getting into Tuesday, James continues to be clicking. He has scored 30 or extra factors in his final seven video games, together with 38 factors (his second-highest complete this season) towards Dallas on Dec. 25.
“His athleticism is still there,” Spoelstra stated. “But if he ever only had to rely on his brain, he could play till he’s 50 and still be effective and move the needle.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com