LeBron James made an honest admission this week regarding his worst NBA performance in 17 years as his Los Angeles Lakers team returned to Southern California from the Footprint Center in Phoenix empty-handed after dropping a 105-109 loss to the Suns.
The Lakers built a 34-25 lead in the first quarter, came unstuck in the second, but battled back in the third only to squander the lead once again and hand the victory to the Kevin Durant side.
Notably, in one statistical department, James put up his worst numbers since 2007 when he was five years away from winning his first NBA championship during his first spell with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Ohio native’s 21.4 percent shooting efficiency on Monday was his lowest in 1,179 games, as pointed out by Suns beat reporter Kellan Olson on X.
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After the game, James suggested that an illness played a factor in his unexpectedly poor performance and that it had hit him really hard. “I’ve been better,” he said when asked about his well-being. “You can hear it in my voice.”
James added he had been feeling nasally since Friday, October 25.
Despite the slip-up at the Suns, the Lakers have otherwise enjoyed extraordinary form since the regular NBA season started earlier in October. The Lakers started the season with a 110-103 win over the Timberwolves, beat the Suns 123-116 in their first meeting of the new campaign, and returned 131 to the Sacramento Kings’ 127 in an absurdly high-scoring game.
There is room to improve further, still, as the team is linked with a move to bolster its squad with rumors of adding shot-blocking Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler, according to The Athletic.
“I think we need more time to see which guys become available,” said The Athletic reporter Jovan Buha on his official YouTube channel. “I think Walker Kessler is a name that the Lakers have been interested in that would make a lot of sense and would allow you to either start a two-big look or, probably more realistically, bring him off the bench and then play two-big shifts and then, in certain matchups, close with two bigs. ”
Buha continued: “Jerami Grant, Bruce Brown, Dorian Finney-Smith, Cam Johnson, the guys theyve kind of gone after or been interested in in the past.”
Should the Lakers make that rumor a reality then he could coincide with what the team hopes to get out of Anthony Davis. Kessler has been at the Jazz all his pro career, was named part of the all-rookie first team in 2023, and is highly-regarded for his defensive play.
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