LeBron James on Monday had arguably his best game — so far — of the 2020-21 NBA season.
James erupted in the Lakers' road game against his former team, putting up season-highs in points (46), field goal percentage (73.1) and 3-point percentage (63.6) in a 115-108 win over the Cavs. He also pulled down eight rebounds and nabbed six assists, two blocks and two steals to help Los Angeles improve to 10-0 on the road this year.
That's not all: After missing the final shot of the third quarter, James had a brief back-and-forth with a member of the Cavs' front office — whom he refused to name — helping fuel him to a 21-point fourth quarter. That was more than Cleveland put together as a team (19).
A Cavs fan mocked LeBron for missing a shot in the 3rd quarter so he comes out in the 4th and out scores the entire Cavs team.
— N (@Nino12x) January 26, 2021
LeBron - 21 points
Cavs- 19 points
Greatness🐐👑 pic.twitter.com/igV6CLbEYZ
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And he did all this on the day before the one-year anniversary of Kobe Bryant's death. According to ESPN Stats & Info, James became the oldest Lakers player to score at least 40 points since Bryant scored 60 in his final career game:
LeBron James (36 years, 26 days) is the oldest Lakers player with a 40-point game since Kobe Bryant scored 60 in his final career game. Bryant was 37 years, 234 days old. pic.twitter.com/1GyIotPQAh
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 26, 2021
Perhaps it's appropriate James' performance came one year to the day after Bryant's final tweet, in which the superstar charged James with moving the game forward:
Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames. Much respect my brother 💪🏾 #33644
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) January 26, 2020
Below are James' full highlights:
