While the game didn’t provide any definitive answers about what LeBron James will do in his record-breaking 23rd season, it offered promising signs about what he won’t do.
He won’t disrupt what the Lakers are doing.
James indirectly said that leading up to his season debut on Tuesday and he indirectly said that again after.
The point was made most emphatically by how he played in the 140-126 victory over the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena.
In the 30 minutes he played, James shot the ball only seven times, less than any other Lakers starter.
He didn’t have problems with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves remaining the team’s primary options.
He didn’t mind picking his spots.
He didn’t mind spending most of the game as a peripheral figure on the court.
“Just thought he played with the right spirit,” coach JJ Redick said. “Very unselfish all night. Willing passer. Didn’t force it. Took his drive and his shots when they were there.”
The 40-year-old James acknowledged that his conditioning remained a problem — “Wind was low,” he said — but he played so much within himself that he never looked visibly fatigued.
This is what the Lakers needed from James on Tuesday, as it allowed them to build on the 10-4 record they compiled in the games he missed because of sciatica. And this could be the kind of mindset the Lakers will need James to adopt for the remainder of the season, especially if Doncic and Reaves continue to score at their current rates.
“I don’t have to worry about [chemistry],” James said.
James sounded offended by questions implying he could have trouble fitting in with the team.
“I don’t even understand why that was a question,” he said.
Concerns over his ability to meld with his particular team were never based on his basketball IQ or skillset but instead how open he would be to accepting a reduced role.
This is a player who was the centerpiece of every team on which he’d ever played. This is also a player who craves attention and is notoriously passive aggressive.
In retrospect, suggesting that James couldn’t adapt to a new role might have sold him short. Whatever he’s said off the court, he’s usually made the right decisions on them.
“There’s not one team, not one club, in the world that I cannot fit in and play for,” James said the day before his return. “I can do everything on the floor. So whatever this team needs me to do, I can do it when I’m back to myself.”
Or even before that.
James scored only 11 points against the Jazz, but he still had his moments.
Starting in the final second of the third quarter, James assisted on seven of the next eight Lakers baskets, a four-minute-30-second stretch over which the team extended its lead from eight to 17.
From the left wing, James found Gabe Vincent in the opposite corner for an open three.
Double-teamed at the top of the key, James dropped a bounce pass to Jaxson Hayes, who soared for an open dunk.
James flipped a couple of no-look passes to Deandre Ayton and delivered a backdoor assist from the post to Jake LaRavia.
James finished with a game-high 12 assists.
“Good player,” Reaves said.
Describing his frustration over not playing the previous 14 games, James said he was grateful to just be playing.
“A lot of joy,” he said. “You probably saw me smiling and talking a lot on the court today.”
But he also sounded as if he wanted to prove something.
“I said it, was it yesterday’s practice, post practice?” James said. “I can fit in with anybody.”
Carefully watching his teammates in the games that he missed, James said he pictured where he could position himself and how he could contribute.
James will average more than 11 points this season. He’s still too good to not. But the Lakers almost certainly won’t need him to average 24 points as he did last season. How open he is to that could determine if they are just a playoff team or a legitimate contender.
The start was optimistic.
