LeBron James is going to win Western Conference Player of the Month. Yet, the Los Angeles Lakers went 6-8 in December.

In those 14 games, LeBron averaged 30.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game. He shot 55.5% from the field and 40.4% from three. He looked as spry as he's been since the first half of the 2020-21 season.

Fittingly, LeBron capped off the year by dropping 37 points on Dec. 29, celebrating his 37th birthday on Dec. 30, then roasting the Portland Trail Blazers for 43 points, 14 rebounds, and zero turnovers on New Year's Eve. He averaged nearly 37 minutes per game for the month.

“I’m in a damn good zone right now, and I just want to continue that as long as possible,” James told Spectrum SportsNet after the Portland victory. “I’m just trying to do whatever it takes to help this team win, man.”

Only Kobe Bryant has scored more points in a game after turning 37. LeBron became the oldest player in NBA history to average 30 points or more in a month, eclipsing Michael Jordan. Despite missing 12 games, he has more 30 point outings (15) than any player in basketball this season.

“I just see a guy who is literally the epitome of the fine wine quote,” David Fizdale said. “He’s vintage. And his game just keeps getting better. Maybe he doesn’t touch the absolute top of the backboard anymore, but he still gets up pretty high.”

Also: he plays center now.

James has started at the five twice since Anthony Davis's MCL sprain, as the Lakers have increasingly (and smartly) turned to small-ball. LeBron has played nearly a third of his minutes at center this season, and the Lakers have shined with him on the court without AD, Dwight Howard, nor DeAndre Jordan. The Lakers' net rating with LeBron at center is +6.0.

LeBron is averaging his most PPG since 2009-10, in his first stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He won MVP that season. He's scored 30 points or more in seven straight games. The last time he pulled that off was in February 2013, as a member of the Miami Heat. He won MVP that season. Nine years later, LeBron James is suddenly back in the MVP race.

“Just spectacular,” said Fizdale said about LeBron's performance in the Lakers' Christmas Day loss. “And I hate that it’s wasted on losses.”

Notably, the Lakers are 18-19, 7th in the West, and 3-6 in their past nine games.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5c6tXfQrG0wOUKZ4v7F8Bc?si=80e1ceb8195c4f9f

 

Beyond the numbers, both Fizdale and Frank Vogel have lauded LeBron for his leadership during this stretch of excellence.

“He exemplifies going out and ‘playing 'til exhaustion,” Vogel said after Bron's brilliance vs. the Blazers. “He plays so hard … That's how we want our group to play. That's how everybody should play the game … And then, his energy in film sessions and all of our work away from the game — the mental energy he brings to the game and the positivity. There's so much noise around our team and negativity. He doesn't allow that to filter into our group.”

“We’re all very lucky as basketball people to get to watch what we’re watching right now out of this man,” Fizdale praised. “And it’s just beautiful. And I know our results haven’t been coming back the way we want them to right now, but the way he’s going about this thing and the way he’s playing, he can’t help but to galvanize us and really get this team going in the right direction. I just really feel like as we start to get healthy, his energy and will and his leadership and his poise will be the thing that really pushes us forward.”

In 2019-20, LeBron was making a late push for MVP when the season went on hiatus. He expressed his not-so-subtle disagreement with Giannis Antetokounmpo taking home the award. In 2020-21, LeBron was in the thick of the MVP race before spraining his ankle. A fifth Larry O'Brien trophy is priority no. 1, but a fifth Maurice Podoloff trophy is something he wants. He told us as much.

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Of course, it's going to be hard for LeBron to leapfrog a sturdy list of candidates: Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, DeMar DeRozan, to name a few.

There is a combination of factors that could coalesce in LeBron's favor. James Harden's uptick in play and Kyrie Irving's return may affect Durant's chances. Ditto for Klay Thompson vis-à-vis Curry. Jokic and Giannis are dominant, but the Denver Nuggets aren't exactly tearing it up, and neither player has a great narrative case — so often the determinant in these things.

LeBron's narrative case, in his 19th season, will be stronger than anybody else's.

“It’s about always just keeping your mind and manifesting young things, thoughts in your mind but also at the same time, keeping up with the young pack – the people that’s always trying to chase you or people that kind of say that you’re too old to be at this state still,” LeBron said. “It’s just always a daily reminder and sometimes you do have to remind people that you can still do what you do at a high level and I’ve just been blessed, very blessed and continue to put the work in.”

If LeBron successfully leads the Lakers through the league's second-hardest remaining schedule — with a slew of games against top-tier contenders and MVP candidates — towards the top of the West, while playing all five positions and huge minutes, he'll inevitably crash the discussion.

Anthony Davis' eventual return will naturally dampen LeBron's case. But, if AD plays at the same underwhelming level he was at pre-injury and LeBron maintains this absurd production, Davis' presence may not necessarily be disqualifying.

Ultimately, there's too much basketball left to dive too deep into this. However, the fact that we're in the Year 2022 and LeBron is back in the discussion is remarkable.

Well, maybe if it was anybody besides LeBron James — the greatest 37-year old in NBA history.