Playing the Miami Heat on the second game of a road back-to-back is never a fun time for any team, but the experience was especially rough for the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night. The Lakers turned the ball over 26 times and trailed by as much as 22 en route to a 112-98 defeat, their fifth in the past six games.
LeBron James had six of those turnovers, but otherwise did as much as he could and finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and six assists on 10-of-18 from the field. Without Anthony Davis, though, the Lakers just don’t have enough talent and fall to 14-21 on the season.
Now three games out of even a play-in tournament spot, the reality is setting in that the Lakers may miss the playoffs for the third time in five seasons since James arrived at Los Angeles in 2018. With the Lakers struggling and his 38th birthday just two days away on Dec. 30, James was asked some big picture questions about what’s going through is mind these days and how much longer he wants to play.
In an uncharacteristic response that suggested the totality of the Lakers’ situation is draining some of his enthusiasm, he said he no longer wants to play basketball just to play. He wants to win.
“I don’t have a number [of years I can keep playing],” James said. “As long as my mind stays in it, I can play at this level for a minute. It’s up to my mind. My body is gonna be OK, because if my mind is into it I’ll make sure my body is taken care of, and I’ll continue to put in the work.
“I’m a winner and I want to win. I want to win and give myself a chance to win, and still compete for championships. That’s always been my passion and goal since I entered the league as an 18-year-old kid out of Akron, Ohio. I know it takes steps to get there, but once you get there and know how to get there — playing basketball at this level just to be playing basketball is not in my DNA. It’s not in my DNA anymore. We’ll see what happens and see how fresh my mind stays over the next couple years.”
Lakers point guard Dennis Schroder claimed in an…
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