Has LeBron James given up on winning this season?
LeBron James mailed it in on Monday night … after the game.
James' absence in the postgame press conference was more than likely due to the fact that his Los Angeles Lakers lost again. It was their fourth loss in five games, their eighth loss in their last 10 games, and their 15th loss in their last 20.
And as the losses pile up, James' frustration seems to be mounting, both on and off the court.
Has James officially given up on the Lakers achieving anything of substance this season?
Skip Bayless said as much on Tuesday's "Undisputed," positing that James' main focus has become scoring records.
"I still believe he can win the scoring title this year," Bayless said. "I think it would be a feather [in his cap] because you can say, ‘Oh, I won the scoring title at age 37 in Year 19.’ That's his focus right now.
"He's an all-time great player and since the All-Star break, [the Lakers] are 2-7, and would you believe in those nine games, he leads the NBA in turnovers? He's gone Russell [Westbrook] since the All-Star break turning the ball over."
James indeed has history in his sights.
He would be the oldest player to ever win a scoring title if he leads the league in points per game this season. As of Tuesday morning, he is 75 points away from passing Karl Malone for the second-most points scored in NBA history, and he trails all-time leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar by 1,533 points.
In 50 games this season, James has scored 1,487 points, meaning — barring injury or retirement — the King will become the king of scoring next season.
This season, James has been at the top of his game individually, putting up 29.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists. In the month of March, he's averaging 34.6 points on 54.1% shooting from the field and 42.9% shooting from 3.
Those numbers, though impressive, have only translated into two wins this month for L.A.
Still, Chris Broussard said despite James' visible frustration, he's still laying it on the line on a nightly basis for the Lakers.
"Yes, he's frustrated. He's 37 years old. He's playing great basketball. … This shows that LeBron is not just, ‘Who cares about winning at this point, let me get Kareem’s record.' He's trying to get into the play-in."
As of Tuesday, the Lakers are ninth in the West standings, one game ahead of 10th place New Orleans and 2.5 games ahead of 11th place Portland.
Of their remaining 14 games, 12 are against current playoff or play-in teams. In addition, L.A. faces N.O twice (home and away), and travels to Toronto, Cleveland, Dallas, Utah, Phoenix, Golden State and Denver.
In other words, James will have no choice but to play to win for the next month — or all those points will be for naught.
