The week that changed the NBA: from LeBron James to transfer market issues

Last week, for the NBA, will have a before and after. As much for the influence it is destined to exert on the current and next seasons, with the shocks coming from the transfer market, as for the historical implications of the enterprise of LeBron James. That is, for a few days now, the best NBA scorer of all time, at an incredible amount of 38,390 runs scored.

By limiting the ranking to active players only, there is behind him Kevin Durant (more than 11,000 lengths away) and in the top 15 a former partner of both, Kyrie Irving. That is, the two absolute protagonists of the latest crackling market rush.

Partly to avoid trespassing – we’re talking about King James, after all – and partly because of the epochal significance of the record, it’s a must to start right here. From the evening, that is, in which LeBron definitively entered, in case the numbers were needed to certify it, in the Olympus of the game.

At the feet of the King

At the crypto.com Arena (the former Staples Center), the Lakers were unable to overcome a rebuilding team like OKC. The show, though, was clearly a one-man-show, and LeBron did not disappoint. Or rather, the prayers of those who overpaid for their ticket, in the hope that luck wouldn’t kiss those who bet on the next race instead.

It took 37 points to break the record, not an easy feat. From the first minutes of the match, however, James’ aggression made it clear to millions of spectators from all over the world that yes, it would happen. That evening. And so, again in the third quarter, LeBron wrote history, with a capital S:

As such, the NBA world celebrated her. Game suspended for several minutes, ceremony with Adam Silver and Jabbar, a parade of NBA and half Hollywood stars in the front rows: nobody wanted to miss the moment. On the other hand, “we are all witnesses”, recited a timeless advertisement that Nike dedicated to it years ago.

Setting aside the record, along with the debate – an end in itself – about who is the greatest ever, the real value of the record lies in the unmatched longevity of LeBron’s career. Indeed of his kingdom of him, because at 38 he is still the leader of the Lakers and one of the best players in the league. Waiting for “father time”, sooner or later, to have the upper hand; and waiting for the next “chosen one” to arrive, perhaps before the 30 years Jabbar has waited.

A new West

As mentioned, the market took care of the rest, between the definitive collapse of the Nets, the revolution of the Lakers and the all-ins of the Mavs and Suns. All seasoned with the drama that has accompanied every development in Brooklyn since 2019, with an ending that certainly could not be an exception.

After a turbulent summer to say the least, the worst seemed to be over for the Nets. It even seemed to glimpse a glimmer of serenity in coach Vaughn’s group. The balance, however, was still precarious, and the truce illusory. This time it has really come to an end: the franchise will start from a new nucleus, while Irving and Durant have moved to Dallas and Phoenix. The first, to undermine the best teams in the west together with Doncic; the second, to create a super team alongside Paul and Booker. In search of that ring that Brooklyn have only dreamed of, despite the disproportionate amount of talent passed on the banks of the Hudson.

In addition to the Mavs and the Suns, those who attempted the big leap are precisely LeBron’s Lakers. In the aftermath of his record, the yellow-purple management handed James several new teammates: Russell, Vanderbilt, Beasley and Bamba, who followed up on the previous arrival of Hachimura. And so, even LA will be able to play its chances in the Playoffs, despite a current ranking (13th) which certifies all the difficulties experienced up to now.

In any case, it will be a wild, wild west.