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Dave McMenamin
LOS ANGELES — After becoming the oldest player in NBA history to top 40 points in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 120-112 win over the Golden State Warriors, LeBron James stated the obvious about the achievement.
“What do I think? That I’m old,” James said Thursday after scoring 42 points on 14-for-25 shooting to lead the Lakers to their 10th win in the past 12 games. “That’s what I think. I need a glass of wine and some sleep, that’s the first thing I think about.”
James, at 40 years and 38 days old, is about a month older than Michael Jordan was when he scored 43 points on Feb. 21, 2003, for the Washington Wizards at 40 years and 4 days old.
“The biggest thing is we got the win, obviously,” James said when asked about being linked to Jordan, his childhood hero, in yet another statistical category after 22 seasons in the league. “But throughout my journey, anytime I’ve been named or in the category or whatever the case, crossed paths with any of the greats, it’s always humbling. Just to know where I come from. And I love the game so much. So it’s pretty cool.”
Facing a familiar foe in Stephen Curry on Thursday night, it was James’ 3-point shot that was locked in. He hit his first five 3-point attempts, including three straight in a 28-second span in the second quarter — the final one of the sequence came from the Lakers’ logo at center court, 34 feet from the basket.
The moon shot put L.A. up 45-23 with 9:09 remaining in the second quarter, causing Warriors coach Steve Kerr to burn a timeout as James raised both his arms and egged on the raucous home crowd.
James has been dedicating part of his pregame routine to practicing the deep “logo” 3s this season, with Lakers assistant coach Greg St. Jean rebounding for him.
“I always work on things that I’m going to shoot in the game or plays that I’m going to do in the game,” James said. “So, it pays off, for sure.”
James is also the youngest player in league history to score 40 in a game. He dropped 41 for the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 27, 2004, when he was 19 years and 88 days old.
“I think with LeBron, we’ve run out of words and superlatives and descriptions to sort of capture what he’s doing at this stage of his career and at this age,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “It continues to be remarkable, it really does. And he really led us tonight.”
James added 17 rebounds and 8 assists, with new teammate Luka Doncic watching from the bench in a black Lakers sweat suit.
L.A. is now No. 5 in the Western Conference standings, a game behind the No. 4 Houston Rockets with Doncic targeting Monday against the Utah Jazz for his Lakers debut, a source familiar with his plans told ESPN.
And then it will be James’ turn to watch his teammate up close.
“I’ve been watching him since he got into this league,” James said of Doncic. “And what he’s capable of doing is special. He’s a super-duper special talent.”