It didn’t take Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James long to make NBA history upon his return to game action. James made history not once, but twice during his season debut against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.
First, James made history by simply stepping on the court and checking into the game, as he became the first player in league history to play 23 seasons. Heading into this year, he was tied with Vince Carter for the most seasons played with 22. Now he sits alone at the top in yet another statistical category.
The second way that James made history against Utah was with his 3-point production. James hit two triples in the game and he passed legendary sharpshooter Reggie Miller for No. 6 on the NBA’s all-time made 3-pointers list in the process. Miller connected on 2,560 3-pointers over the course of his illustrious career. Before Steph Curry came around, Miller was considered by many to be the greatest shooter ever.
Now, just five players have made more career 3-pointers in the NBA than James: Curry, James Harden, Ray Allen, Dame Lillard and Klay Thompson. All of those guys, except for Allen, are still active, so their totals are still increasing and not yet set in stone.
The fact that James has surpassed the likes of Miller on the 3-point list is impressive, and probably surprising to some, as James was never viewed as a shooter. In fact, 3-point shooting was considered to be a weakness of his early in his career. The fact that he has climbed so high on the list is a testament to his commitment to improvement, and his longevity.
James played 30 minutes in his return to action against the Jazz and he tallied 11 points, 12 assists and 3 rebounds. His contributions helped the Lakers pull out a 140-126 victory, their third consecutive win.
It wasn’t James’ best game by any stretch of the imagination, but it also wasn’t bad for a 40-year old guy who hasn’t played in a game in months. His teammates were certainly happy to have him back.
"It's been a long time since he played basketball, so I think for his first game he looked amazing," Lakers guard Luka Doncic said of James after the game. "He's going to keep getting into rhythm and he's going to help us a lot."
Not only were the Lakers able to tread water during James' early-season absence, they were able to exceed expectations and establish themselves as a team to watch in the Western Conference by winning 10 of the 14 games that James missed.
Now that he's back in the mix, James should immediately raise the Lakers' ceiling and provide head coach J.J. Redick with added flexibility and depth that he didn't have over the first few weeks of the season, because James may be in his 23rd season, but he is still one of the most impactful players in the entire league.