LeBron James is one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA and a first ballot Hall of Famer whenever he retires. Now as he is in the latter half of his career, some of the many records he has set throughout his career could be broken by the new wave of NBA talent.
The first of those came on Saturday night when Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball surpassed James as the youngest player to ever record a triple-double in an NBA game.
Following shootaround ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ game against the New York Knicks, James congratulated Ball for breaking the record while reflecting on his younger day via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:
“I definitely think back to when I was that young,” James said Monday. “There’s not many games that I can remember when I was 20 years old or 19 or even 18. So first of all, congratulations to him. I think he’s going to be a really, really good point guard in our league, probably a great point guard if he continues to work on his craft, which it seems like he does. They got a good one.”
James has certainly taken notice of Ball’s play in his early career. Though many have criticized Lonzo, his NBA contemporaries have constantly praised him for his play on the court, and poise off of it.
Lonzo may not have cared about breaking the record, but it has obviously caught the eye of many throughout the NBA. For a Lakers team hoping to convince LeBron to come out West this summer, Ball’s play will be a big part of their pitch and it sounds as if James is a fan of his game.
LeBron is expected to prioritize winning this summer so if Ball can help the Lakers in the win column, it could help the franchise in more ways than one.
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