The missed season, his injury, the title of best scorer … The answers of LeBron James

“There is no need for surgery, no need for injections”. LeBron James gave news of his health during his last interview to end the season 2021/22, being rather reassuring about his left ankle, which will simply require four to six weeks of rest.

Touched on March 27 during the game against the Pelicans, the King also confided that the state of his ankle had worsened following his hasty return to the floor to face New Orleans again five days later, with a play-in qualification in sight, finally missed by the Lakers.

An injury that prevented him from playing the end of the Lakers’ season and from reaching the minimum number of games necessary to appear in the various statistical rankings. Clearly, he did not seek to play two more games to try to overtake Joel Embiid as the best scorer in the NBA.

“I’m not going to play meaningless games just to win the title of leading scorer. That would be beneath me and my career.”

“Once we were eliminated from the playoff race, it didn’t even cross my mind. I’m not going to play meaningless games just to win the scoring title,” he explained. “That would be beneath me and my career. (…) Frankly, for me, after 19 years of my career, going for the title while being eliminated from the playoffs would have been the most crazy thing in history.”

Then, he was inevitably asked about Russell Westbrook since the graft didn’t take. LeBron James was behind that finish, and it’s a big miss.

“The results just weren’t there, but it’s not a failure,” he assures nevertheless. “At the end of the day, the reason we weren’t good together is because we weren’t together on the damn court. That’s the number one reason. How many games did we play together? We played, what, a quarter of the season together? Less than a quarter of the season? I played more games in high school with my old teammates. That’s just the way it is.”

“I enjoyed being Russell’s teammate.”

To answer his question, Anthony Davis, he and Russell Westbrook have played 21 games together, and the record is just about right: 11 wins – 10 losses. Which is far from exceptional.

About Russell Westbrook, he adds: ” One thing I like about Russell, and will always like, is the competitive spirit he shows every night. We’re in a business where there are a lot of injuries and a lot of things happen, and to have a reliable guy like that up and running every night is something I respect. I’m not out there making decisions for the front office and things like that. But I’ve enjoyed being Russell’s teammate. ”

In the end, he reiterates; ” I came here to win a title, but I want to win more. I’ve accomplished what I wanted to accomplish, but I’m still hungry, I want more.”

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