CLEVELAND: As he showered and dressed and prepared for the cold winter night ahead, LeBron James stopped in front of the mirror in the Cavaliers’ locker room late Thursday night to examine the scratch across the bridge of his nose — his birthday scratch, he called it.
James received the mark during the course of the Cavs’ 124-118 win over the Boston Celtics. He was annoyed by it, but not nearly annoyed as his performance made him. He had 23 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists in the victory, but chastised his own performance as failing because of his eight turnovers and his concentration lapses. Such is life for a three-time champion and perfectionist who should be playing the back nine of his career with dignity. Instead he’s playing like a superstar with no intention of leaving his prime.
James loves to say Father Time is undefeated. But as he turned 32 on Friday, James’ body clock appears broken, frozen in time.
“He looks like he’s in possibly the best shape of his career,” longtime teammate James Jones said. “And that’s hard to say after he’s been playing 14 years.”
As he turns 32, James’ numbers are up compared to last season’s championship. The point difference is negligible (25.4 this season, 25.3 last season), but he’s within range of setting career highs in rebounding and assists. His overall shooting percentage is down, but his 3-point shooting is up drastically.
“It must be the wine drinking. Get better with age, I guess,” James laughed. “I just feel great. I’ve conditioned myself and I’m having one of the best seasons of my career so far and I just want to try to continue to keep it going.”
As James continues to chase the ghost of Michael Jordan, he appears to be right on target. Jordan won his fourth championship and his fourth Most Valuable Player award when he turned 33 during the 1995-96 season.
James already has three championships and four MVP awards and appears poised to contend for his fifth MVP this season. But he doesn’t see any similarities in his game and Jordan’s.
“Our games are so different,” James said. “He was much more of a scorer, and at that point did a lot of post work at that time. But our games are just different. His body is different. My body is different than his. So you recognize the dominance that someone had at that age, but there’s no similarities in our game at all.”
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue called James a blend of Jordan’s scoring, Magic Johnson’s vision and Dominique Wilkins’ explosiveness and power.
“When you’re on top, the best player in the league for so long and having to carry that each and every year and never get knocked down off that pedestal, that’s a big accomplishment,” Lue said. “Guys are coming for you and you’re a target and to always stay on top no matter what, always being that best player in the league, that’s how I compare him and Jordan.”
Lue’s career ended at 32. He joked that he fooled teams his last couple of years in the league, but by 32 had exhausted all of his options. He played for seven franchises during his 11 years in the league and shakes his head in wonder at James’ longevity.
Certainly there have been advancements in technology and physical maintenance even since James’ rookie season, but players today typically stay in better shape during the summer, which helps during the season. Stars like James and Kevin Love typically take about two weeks off in the summer, then return to the gym to continue working out.
Even when James takes games off, such as he did earlier in the week at Detroit, James is quick to declare that he doesn’t take time off from working. He’s doing something every day to take care of his body and hold on to this peak form as long as possible. To this point, he is showing no signs of aging.
“The meticulous nature with which he addresses his game, his body and his health has paid tremendous dividends,” Jones said. “As long as he wants to, he can reign supreme.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.