LeBron chalked up another father and son double
&w=707&quality=100)
LeBron James and Jabari Smith Jr. shared a postgame hug after the Lakers beat the Rockets
LeBron James ignored pregame teases about his age to suggest it was just a number while the 38-year-old was playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.
James had 48 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in a spectacular performance for the Lakers, who beat the Houston Rockets 140-132 Monday night at the Crypto.com Arena.
Before the start of the game, 19-year-old Houston power forward Jabari Smith Jr approached LeBrooooon and said: “Hey you played against my dad, your first NBA game. Sacramento.”
Geli James replied: “Why would you do that to me?”
Smith added: “You feel old, don’t you?”
Smith’s cheeky remarks needed a little extra, as records show that his father was actually an unused substitute in the game on October 29, 2003, which saw James drop a game-high 25 points for the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Sacramento Kings to make an immediate impact. in the NBA.
James and Smith senior faced each other the following season, when Smith moved to the New Jersey Nets.
Asked after Monday’s game about playing father and son, James laughed off Smith’s reminder in an interview with NBA TV.
“Daddy version, man, versus daddy! That makes me feel so old,” said James.
“He said, ‘That makes you feel old?’. I said, ‘What a man.’
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to play against some father and son combinations: Gary Trent and Gary Trent Jr, Kenyon Martin and Kenyon Martin Jr, and now Jabari Smith Jr and Jabari Smith Sr.
“It’s been an amazing journey, these 20 years I’ve seen great players come and go, so it’s always an honor for me.”
The Lakers scored 113 points with James on the court and did not commit a single turnover during that time. That makes James the only NBA player in the last 20 years whose team has scored more than 100 points without turning them on the court in a single game.
James said the win felt “hugely important” as the Lakers (20-24) ended a three-game losing streak, including rocky losses to the Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers.
“After the Dallas game and after the Philly game last night, we’ve just had some heartbreaking losses, and we could have found a better way to close out the game,” said James.
“Tonight, we stayed calm, and even when they were running, we kept calm and executed attacks, had some hard shots and then made some important defensive saves.”