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After the Los Angeles Lakers failed to make the playoffs last season, LeBron James had his season end in April for the first time since 2005. According to his teammate, Kyle Kuzma, he’s used that time to refresh and make sure the same thing doesn’t happen next year.
During sit-down interview with Cari Champion of ESPN, Kuzma said James has been attacking the offseason hard, and that all of the noise surrounding his motivation and ability has only fueled the four-time league MVP:
“That dude is ready. He’s ready. I think this year, this offseason, you’ve seen people slandering his name, saying this, saying that. He’s been super motivated this offseason, working. Between shooting movies, he’s in the gym early, at night, whatever. Just being locked in. That’s the biggest thing he talks about, being ready for it all.”
It’s probably too much to say that James is underrated at this stage of his career — especially when no one knows how he’s going to look in his 17th year in the NBA — but the fact that anyone is questioning someone that averaged 28.8 points, 9.8 assists, 8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game upon returning from injury just last season is a little silly.
Will Father Time catch up to James eventually? Probably, but until that happens, James is a top-10 player in the NBA, if not top-five when healthy. Now that James has another top-10 player in Anthony Davis and shooters around him, there’s no doubt that he’s itching to show the world just how much the King has left in the tank.
When does the season start again? Asking for a 6’9”, 250 lb. friend.
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