What is the link between Kevin Willis, born in September 1962, former center of the Atlanta Hawks and Cam Whitmore, born in July 2004, inside of the Houston Rockets?
They are, respectively, the oldest and youngest LeBron James has played against in his NBA career.
A rather insane gap of 42 years which testifies to the exceptional longevity of the “King”.
In his 21st season, number 23 continues to make history with this new record: since his debut in 2003, he has played against 34% of the players who have played in the NBA since 1946 and the creation of the American league.
Hundreds of players, including 10 father and son families like Gary Payton, former leader of the Seattle SuperSonics and his son, Gary Payton II, player of the Golden State Warriors, faced the four-time MVP of the finals.
INSANE.
LeBron has played against 35% of all players in NBA history 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Xr6Qz7IExz
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 18, 2024
The leading scorer in Big League history will have the opportunity to improve his record by continuing a few more seasons to play with his son Bronny James.
But in the meantime, LeBron James is in remarkable form at the age of 39.
During the night from Wednesday to Thursday, the Lakers back pulled out all the stops in the Los Angeles derby against the Clippers.
Trailing by 21 points at the start of the 4th quarter, the Pourpre and Or relied on the “Chosen One” to achieve an unprecedented comeback.
Insolent behind the three-point line with 5 winning shots in the last 12 minutes, James scored 19 points in this period to give the Lakers victory (116-112).
After scoring 34 points in tonight's comeback win...
LeBron James is just 40 points away from reaching 40K career points!
He'll take the court again tomorrow against the Wizards 👑 pic.twitter.com/4oz6uqjwWL
— NBA (@NBA) February 29, 2024
This is the first time since April 3, 2003 that the Angelinos have come back from a deficit of more than 20 points in the last quarter.
At the time, Kobe Bryant scored the game-winning basket with 0.2 seconds left after a 23-point deficit.
Top scorer of the match with 34 units, LeBron James offers the last Los Angeles derby, at the Crypto.com Arena, to the Lakers since the Clippers will move to their new venue, the Intuit Dome, starting next season.
With this new offensive card, he is only 40 points away from reaching the symbolic bar of 40,000 career points.
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He will have the opportunity to do so against Bilal Coulibaly's Washington Wizards next night.
In the Western Conference standings, the Clippers are in 4th place (37-20) and the Lakers are in 9th place (32-28).