LeBron James took games against NBA up-and-comers personally this week

LeBron James used the opportunity of playing some of the league’s great up-and-coming players to prove he’s still at the top of his game, a different approach than he’s used most of this Los Angeles Lakers season.

LeBron James does not mince his words. Whether he’s calling the president a bum or pumping up a teammate or competitor, James makes no mistake with what he says. It’s one of the great strengths of his celebrity. As a player, James also knows how to back up those words with his play on the court. He’s not the type to play mind games like Michael Jordan or pointedly undermine his teammates like Kobe Bryant, but with James, it’s more about the points within the season that he chooses to really show up, and what he says when he wants you to listen. This week provided the best example since he joined the Los Angeles Lakers of what that looks like.

Entering the stretch run of what is one of James’ last best opportunities to win an NBA championship, the calendar provided a nice chance for him to show everyone what he can still do. James and the Lakers are in the midst of a stretch in which they face Ja Morant and the upstart Memphis Grizzlies twice, breakout superstar Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics on national television and the prodigy Zion Williamson and his New Orleans Pelicans twice as well.

The Lakers easily took down Memphis last week, then James provided perhaps the best mano a mano duel of the NBA season against Boston. Reviving the rivalry that hasn’t been relevant in a decade, James and Tatum took over the game in the second half. As has become typical, though, James was in full control. The late fadeaway bucket he nailed felt like a given — let the King stay close, and the result won’t likely favor you.

After that game, James lauded Tatum on Instagram, calling the young Celtic an all-caps ABSOLUTE PROBLEM.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B87mBSHgUzQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Two days later, with the Lakers set to face the Pelicans for the first time since Williamson’s debut (again on national TV), James was asked about Williamson. With social media evidence from just days before that James will go out of his way during the season to praise young players he respects, James took a different tact with the rookie: full-on cluelessness.

Basically: Zion whomst? Except way more serious, almost to the point of satire.

Is it believable that James has never met Williamson? Sure. He’s only been around the game at a national level since the fall of 2018, and James is a busy guy. Is it also likely that James was sending a message? You bet.

Remember, Tatum has a history with James. As a rookie in the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals, Tatum threw down a dunk on James that no one was ready for. Tatum also is in the midst of a true breakout, on the way toward perhaps his first All-NBA nod and opening people’s eyes to the Celtics as a title contender.

Tatum has earned it. Williamson (apparently) has not.

The young man who has garnered comparisons to James for the past year and a half finally faced him on Tuesday night, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that Staples Center exploded into a display of fireworks while the two did battle. James scored 40, Williamson had 29. More importantly, Los Angeles won.

James again commemorated the thriller on Instagram, but Williamson was nowhere to be seen on the King’s feed. Instead, James posted a complete humiliation of former teammate Josh Hart.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9CrtQWg6Hb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Take note of the penultimate hashtag on that post: #WashedKing. It’s been a theme for James all season. At some point, somewhere, James decided we forgot about him. Rather than bring Eminem on a track to rap about how everybody acts like they forgot about James, he seemingly made it his mission to remind them on the court.

In his 18th season, James is playing 35 minutes a night, leading the league in assists per game by a mile, helping to acclimate Anthony Davis to the Lakers, and pushing L.A. toward the top seed in the West. No one really needed reminding, but James has always used his play and his words to draw attention where he wants it to go.

This week on the Lowe Post podcast, Lakers forward Jared Dudley was asked if he wondered whether James had another gear to go to in the playoffs. Dudley cut off host Zach Lowe before he could finish the inquisition: “I don’t wonder.”

Throughout the season, James seemed to be making a point to really find joy in the game after a lousy 2018-19 campaign. He got everyone involved offensively, put in more effort on defense than usual and was the biggest cheerleader when Davis or others made a big play. The tone changed this week, with key matchups against youngsters vying for the crown. As Dudley noted, there’s plenty of evidence that James will turn it on when he has to, even if his load this year has been more burdensome than the Lakers might prefer. James used this week to remind everyone of that, to show everyone the King is not #Washed, and most importantly, it seems, to put the young kids in their place.