LeBron James ties Robert Parish for many video games performed in NBA historical past

MIAMI — LeBron James has lengthy credited a great night time’s sleep for why he’s been in a position to get well from the wear and tear and tear of his 23-year NBA profession.

Before the sport during which he tied the report for probably the most regular-season video games performed in an NBA profession, James and his teammates undoubtedly didn’t get one.

“He’s a psycho,” Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick mentioned.

The Lakers arrived at their lodge in Miami at 5 a.m. Thursday earlier than taking part in the Heat later that night time. But regardless of being listed as questionable on the harm report after his 30-point sport Wednesday in Houston, the 41-year-old James began towards the Miami Heat and tied Robert Parish’s report of 1,611 regular-season video games performed.

“He’s got to be insane. Can’t be normal things going on in his brain to do it so well at such a high level,” teammate Austin Reaves mentioned of James. “There’s nothing left to prove, but he finds something to continue to motivate him. It’s a beautiful thing. And it’s a beautiful thing to have him as one of the leaders of this team, because (if) there’s anybody in the world that could take games off, mentally not be there in a film session, practice, whatever it might be, it could be him. And that’s not how he’s wired.”

The numbers are nonetheless wild, too.

In the 134-126 win towards Miami, James had the 124th triple-double of his profession, ending with 19 factors, 15 rebounds and 10 assists because the Lakers gained their eighth straight sport.

“It goes back to the competitive stamina that he has and his ability to put so much focus and intent into his day,” Redick mentioned of James’ longevity. “That’s the way you final. That’s the way you enhance. That’s the way you keep wholesome and can be found to play in that quantity of video games.

“I think his thing is, whatever the quote is, ‘Make sure you make the main thing the main thing.’ And he’s made basketball the main thing for a long time.”

James mentioned he’s been in a position to proceed to maneuver ahead with out specializing in his particular person accolades, most of which aren’t the sorts of honors which have motivated him over his 23-year profession.

“It’s not like I’m writing things down or looking at the record books and saying, ‘I’m going to get that, I’m going to get that, I’m going to get that.’ It just kind of happened,” James mentioned after Thursday’s sport. “It was not on the list of things that I wanted to accomplish. Games played, all-time leader in points … I don’t know, some of the other stuff that has happened as well, 10-point streak, those things was not in my mind.

“Like, I (wanted) to be the best player in this league at some point. I wanted to be the greatest, one of the greatest, if not the greatest ever to play this game. I wanted to be an NBA champion. I wanted to possibly win Rookie of the Year, make All-Star appearances, win a gold medal, win some MVPs … those were some of my goals. But some of the stuff that has been happening over the course of the last few years has been super-duper cool.”

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James has lengthy been thought to be one of many league’s most bodily ready gamers. His two-decade-plus partnership with coach Mike Mancias has yielded a stretch of greatness on the high of the league that’s by no means been matched.

“It’s not something I set out to do,” James mentioned earlier this week in regards to the video games report. “The one thing that I’ve always had in my mind is that you can’t be a leader and you can’t practice what you preach if you’re not available to your teammates. And I’ve always kind of just prided myself on trying to be as available as possible in my career to my teammates, going out on the floor every night and keeping my body intact.

“And the only way I can do that is how I treat my body, how I prepare my mind to be available for 23 years as much as I possibly can. So that’s what it is for me.”

James is scheduled to set the report for many video games performed Saturday when the Lakers journey to Orlando to face the Magic.