At this point in his career, LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers is doing things that have never been done before. Only in the last few games has James shown what he can do in his 21st season with hard work and commitment.
James led the biggest comeback of his career in the fourth quarter on Wednesday night against the L.A. Clippers. He scored 19 points in the fourth quarter alone to bring his team back from being down 21 points.
After that game, it made sense for James to rest the next night when the Lakers played the Washington Wizards in the second game of a back-to-back. No, that wasn’t true. LeBron not only played, but he also led another comeback win by scoring 31 points and playing 39 minutes, which is how long the game went into OT.
James and Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma played together for three seasons on the Lakers, so Kuzma has a good idea of what James can do.
James is still playing at such a high level, which doesn’t surprise Kuzma because he knows how hard the 39-year-old works.
Why does that happen when he only talks about the main thing? “He has his whole life, and everyone sees the commercials, the fame, and everything else that comes with being LeBron James. But he always puts basketball, his work ethic, and his body first,” Kuzma said.
“I believe it’s only right that every young player in this league should learn from a player like that.” He’s earned and deserves everything that has come his way because he does things the right way. I had a front-row seat for a few years.
There’s a lot of work that goes into being an NBA player, especially after 21 years. Being able to see James up close while they were together made Kuzma pleased with how well he could stick to his routine every day.
“Just determination and the will to do it every day.” It’s hard. Every day having to do this is awful. “We’re all human,” Kuzma said. “But every day you get better and keep going even when you don’t want to.” I’m sure he has bad days too, but that doesn’t stop him from working hard, taking care of his mental health, and inspiring and motivating his coworkers.
James is a great model for the young players in the league, and Kuzma is right about that. Young men have no reason not to work as hard as James does if he can keep doing it.