LOS ANGELES — Despite cementing a first-ballot Hall-of-Fame bound resume that already thrusts him in the NBA all-time great debates, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James recently has sought motivation through two different sources.
The first source stems from James’ quest to play at an elite level at 38 years old in his 21st NBA season.
“I want to continue to defy the odds. I want to continue to have this battle with Father Time that, for so long, everybody has said is undefeated,” James said. “I’m trying to give him one loss.”
The second source traces back to James embracing the NBA’s In-Season Tournament. The Lakers (13-9) will play the New Orleans Pelicans (12-8) in the tournament’s semifinals on Thursday in Las Vegas in hopes to win the league’s inaugural NBA Cup on Saturday. Each player on the championship team will collect $500,000.
“If you give us an opportunity to play for something meaningful with an incentive, then you’ll get what you’re getting,” James said while sitting at the podium next to his teammate, Anthony Davis. “I know the competitive nature in myself. I know the competitive nature in the guy next to me and our DNA. We’re trying to build for this team.”
Related: Why the Lakers will win the NBA In-Season Tournament and LeBron James wins MVP
The Lakers have experienced a turbulent start to the 2022-23 season amid overlapping injuries and inconsistency to various role players in a competitive Western Conference. Despite their 4-7 road record, the Lakers have climbed to fourth place in the Western Conference amid two encouraging developments.
NBA In-Season Tournament: Semifinals, Finals schedule
Today’s games
T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
Indiana Pacers vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 5 p.m. ET (ESPN)
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 9 p.m. ET (TNT, TruTV)
Saturday’s game
Pacers/Bucks winner vs. Pelicans/Lakers winner, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC, ESPN2)
LeBron James continues to play at a high level, even at 38
James has remained both durable and healthy. After entering the 2022-23 campaign with hopes to limit James’ workload, the Lakers have leaned on as much as they had during his first four seasons, both out of ability and necessity.
He just recently became the NBA’s all-time leader in minutes played (66,459 minutes and counting in a combined 1,724 regular-season and playoff games).
Yet, James has still performed as if he is in his prime. He has averaged 24.7 points on 54.6% shooting along with 7.6 rebounds and 6.6 assists. Those are numbers that rank either slightly above and below his career averages.
James has routinely thrown down dunks and recently completed a reverse 360 layup. He has performed those feats by staying disciplined with his training, rest and family time.
“It’s definitely more mental than physical at this point in my career,” James said. “Just mentally showing up hours and hours before the actual game to start to prepare my mind, body and soul for however many minutes I’m going to play and commanding the most out of my teammates and commanding the most out of myself and holding everybody accountable, including myself.
“The mental side is definitely more stressful than the actual body. But if I continue to keep my mind as fresh as possible and continue to put the work in, I give myself an opportunity to surprise myself.”
That has coincided with the Lakers playing at their best during the NBA In-Season tournament.
Related: Top scorers from the NBA In-Season Tournament and All-Tournament team
Los Angeles Lakers heating up in NBA In-Season Tournament
The Lakers won all four of their games in Group Play against the Phoenix Suns, Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz by a combined 74 points.
Following the Lakers’ 106-103 win over the Suns in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Suns coach Frank Vogel and guard Devin Booker criticized the officials for granting the Lakers a timeout while guard Austin Reaves appeared to fumble the ball during a trap with 7.4 seconds remaining.
Not only did the NBA stay firm with its ruling, Kevin Durant pinpointed the loss on the Lakers forcing 22 turnovers and outrebounding them, 21-8 on the offensive glass.
The Lakers collectively made key contributions. James finished with 31 points on 12-for-25 shooting along with 11 assists and eight rebounds. Davis added 27 points and 15 rebounds. Reaves had 20 points, including a 27-foot step-back 3 that gave the Lakers a 105-101 lead with 15.3 seconds left.
After nursing overlapping injuries to Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Cam Reddish, the Lakers had nearly their full roster with the exception of guard Gabe Vincent (left knee).
“You have a playoff environment out there,” Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell said. “Everybody is coming ready to play. You see guys diving on the floor. A lot of bodies on the floor throughout the night. That shows how hard guys are playing from both teams.”
No one has captured that spirit more than James, who has shown excitement and emotion following his recent dunks. James has also endorsed the NBA’s In-Season tournament, while players have talked openly about the financial incentives.
James already has joined the billionaire’s club and will make just under $47 million this season. Yet, he also has shown interest in pursuing additional revenue streams. The Lakers’ younger players on non-guaranteed deals would significantly benefit from the potential big payday.
“The In-Season tournament is what it is,” James said. “We have an opportunity to play on a big stage and be on national television and be able to represent our cities and communities where we come from.”
Mark Medina is an NBA insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Threads.