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The Los Angeles Lakers were scoring at will as LeBron James made his long-awaited season debut against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.
James began an NBA record 23rd season after dealing with sciatica for the first few weeks of the year. He played 30 minutes and scored 11 points in the Lakers’ 140-129 victory. He added 12 assists and three rebounds to his statline.
“The pace tested me, but I was happy with the way I was able to go with the guys,” James said. “As the game went on, my wind got a lot better. Caught my second wind, caught my third wind. Rhythm is still coming back, obviously. First game in almost seven months, so everything that happened tonight was to be expected.”
The 40-year-old James had been sidelined since the start of training camp and missed 14 games despite never missing a season opener since he started playing organized basketball. He was back at Lakers practice on Monday.
He made sure he was going to fit in with a team that came into Tuesday night’s game with a 10-4 record.
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“I can fit in with anybody,” James said. “I don’t even understand why that was even a question. What’s wrong with these people out here? I can fit in right away with anybody. Just watching the guys the first 14 games, I was putting myself (mentally) in position while I was watching the games of how I could help the team and how I could be successful to help those guys. I’m still able to gain a lot of eyes when I’m driving the ball or have the ball.”
Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 37 points on 11-of-22 shooting. He had 10 assists and five rebounds. Austin Reaves contributed 26 points and Deandre Ayton had 20.
Utah fell to 5-9 on the season.
Keyonte George had 34 points on 13-of-23 shooting with eight assists and four rebounds. Lauri Markkanen had 31 points and five rebounds.
James is the first player ever to participate in 23 NBA seasons.
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Vince Carter played in 22 seasons. Carter’s final season came in 2019-20, which was abruptly ended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Robert Parish, Kevin Willis, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Paul have all reached the 21-season benchmark.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
