LeBron James was him on Monday night, scoring the first 20-20 of his 20-year career and leading his Los Angeles Lakers to a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Memphis Grizzlies — and his teammates took notice after the victory.
As James made his way around the locker room after a crucial 117-111 overtime win in front of the home crowd at Crypto.com Arena, his fellow Lakers greeted him with a chorus of bleats.
And for good reason.
LeBron made the tying layup with 0.8 seconds left in regulation before scoring four of his 22 points in overtime, helping LA surge to just a single game away from a trip to the Western Conference second round.
The 38-year-old also grabbed a career playoff-high 20 rebounds. It was the first 20-20 game of his 20-year career, according to Associated Press.
LeBron added seven assists and two blocked shots while turning over the ball just once in his record 270th postseason game.
“I just try to be as great as I can offensively, but more importantly on the defensive end,” the top scorer in NBA history said afterwards. “That was the mindset tonight. I was able to make a couple of plays.”
Humble words from The King, who turned back the clock to dish out a playoff performance for the ages, including as clutch a layup as you can get in the NBA playoffs in the last second of the fourth quarter.
“I've been a part of moments where you know you get a dagger play or a killshot,” James continued. “I felt like that play — it wasn't going to close the door, but there wasn't much light at the end. I just let the emotion come out.”
LeBron James continues to lead the way for the Lakers as the series now shifts back to Memphis for Game 5 on Wednesday night.
If the Lakers legend can put in another performance like he did on Monday when the teams battle at FedEx Forum in Tennessee, there's a great chance this series won't be coming back to California.
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