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    COLUMN: Stubborn LeBron must slow down to go full steam ahead

    Playing heavy minutes, LeBron eager to grab 5th MVP award to tie the ghost he is chasing, Michael Jordan. But securing another Larry O'Brien trophy should be the only mission that matters for the King right now
    Feb 27, 2021
    PHOTO: AP
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    CHICAGO -- I love the chutzpah, the denial, and the nobility that LeBron James is eating heavy minutes in Year 18 of a Hall-of-Fame career all in the name of doing his job.

    The idea of rest, in this era of load management, isn't in his playbook. Never has been. Never will be.

    "I'm here to punch my clock in and be available to my teammates and if I'm hurt or if I'm not feeling well then we can look at it then. Me having the love for the game and me being available to my teammates is more important to me than anything else," he told SB Nation.

    Gotta love the old-school mentality that harkens back to the days when John Stockton missed only 22 games in 19 NBA seasons. To the math impaired like me, that's 1,504 regular season games played out of a possible 1,526.

    Awesome, but last time I checked, history doesn't hand out awards for iron men who plowed through aches and pains in the course of an 82-game schedule. Legacies are measured in rings, not time cards and longevity.

    So someone, somebody please tell the King that he is 36 and at this stage of his career, there is a higher calling than winning worthless regular season games in February, in the dead of the winter when the league is headed to an All-Star hiatus.

    Even before Anthony Davis went down with a calf injury during the Lakers' 122-104 loss to the Denver Nuggets last Valentine's Day, LeBron has already been doing some serious workload that has bumped his average playing time from 34.5 minutes per to way too much.

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    Per The Los Angeles Times, yesterday's low 27-minute appearance where he rested because the Jazz beat them like scrambled eggs, was only the sixth time in 12 games this month when James has logged under 38 minutes.

    Four of those dozen games went into overtime and LeBron exceeded 41 minutes each outing.

    That has to stop.

    Rest now 'Bron or injury will make your career rest in peace.

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    I get it. LeBron is determined to capture another league MVP award, a fifth plum that will square him up with the ghost he is chasing, Michael Jordan.

    With 35,086 points scored he is also incentivized to exceed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time record of 38,387.

    Lifting the MVP trophy and becoming the NBA's all-time leading scorer are nice feats. But securing another Larry O'Brien trophy should be the only mission that matters for the King right now.

    He has to choose between individual honors and the ultimate team goal. As great as he is, he cannot have it both ways. Not now, not when the checkered flag is about to wave on a spectacular run.

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    The Lakers were on a four-game funk. So what?

    Their won-lost record is a sturdy 23-11 and third overall in the Western Conference. That's why you gather hay while the sun shines so you can weather the rainy days.

    And even if they slide all the way down to a 7th playoffs seed it wouldn't matter. With a rested LeBron and a healthy Anthony Davis, these Lakers can win it all even minus home court advantage.

    With AD hurt and LeBron stubbornly tempting fate, there is a little trouble in LaLaland. But they wouldn't be the Lakers without the drama, right?

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      FASTBREAK. Eager to find out about the health status of AD amid vague, conflicting reports I emailed my friend Dave McMenamin who covers the Lakers for ESPN.

      The forecast is sunny.

      "He is able to do upper body workouts and is just rehabbing his right leg for now. He is expected to return after the All-Star Game."
      ___

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      PHOTO: AP
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