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Through the first nine games of the season, LeBron James and the LA Lakers find themselves one game under .500. As playoff predictions continue to pour out, fans are quickly pointing out how useless of a statistic it is.
Throughout the course of the regular season, basketball reference has playoff percentages for each team. Despite being in eighth place with a record of 4-5, LeBron James and the Lakers have a 21% chance of making the postseason.
While debates ensued about this metric, some NBA fans were quick to point out how wrong it can be. Early in the season last year, their percentage was under one and they managed to make the conference finals.
Part of why their percentage remains high is the nature of their losses. Outside of their recent blowout loss at the hands of the Houston Rockets, the Lakers have been in almost all of their games. They have one overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings and a one-point defeat against the Miami Heat. If those two games go differently, LeBron and company might be viewed in a different light.
LeBron James continues to lead LA Lakers in year 21
The Lakers acquired multiple depth pieces, but they've been off to slow starts getting acclimated with their new team. Between that and Anthony Davis already dealing with injuries, it's been on LeBron James to lead the charge for LA.
In his 21st season, LeBron continues to be a high-impact player in the NBA. Many have waited for Father Time to catch up to him, but it hasn't been the case thus far. Through the Lakers' first nine games, LeBron is averaging 25.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists.
LeBron's best game of the year so far came in a five-point win over the LA Clippers. In 42 minutes of action, he posted a stat line of 35 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
Since the Lakers have championship aspirations this season, they need to worry about not going overboard with LeBron's workload. If they want to be a legitimate contender, the players around him need to up their production. LeBron is proving he's still capable of getting a team to the playoffs, but exerting all his energy doing so would be a waste for LA.
Aside from Anthony Davis' up-and-down play, Austin Reaves has been underwhelming to start the year. Because of his lackluster play, Darvin Ham had to move him to the bench.
At this point in his career, LeBron James needs to be able to rely on those around him to preserve his workload during the regular season.
