Like a record, LeBron James’ age is just a number

An arena worker named Anita, who wouldn’t give her last name but said she had worked there for 10 years, feared the record could be broken upstairs at the Pelicans’ home. “We can’t let it happen here,” she said. “It’s not about the king tonight.”

No one, really, should have thought that James, at this point in his career, would score 63 points on Saturday. (His career high is 61 points, in a game against Charlotte in 2014.) But James has provided plenty of miracles in his career. For him to compete at such a high level at 38 seems like just one more feat – one that alters perceptions of athletic limits and athletic bonuses.

James fell short of the scoring record on Saturday, finishing with 27 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, and the Lakers (25-29) lost to the Pelicans (27-27), 131-126. James is now 36 points from passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scored 38,387 from 1969-89, and tickets for the Lakers’ game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night have soared in anticipation that James will then break the record.

On Saturday, James made plays that explained why many fans will still believe another miracle is on the way. He played 40 minutes, more than any of his teammates. It was the third time in his last four games that he had played at least 40 minutes, a figure he said was “catching up with him”.

“I’m extremely tired,” he said after the game. “But I will be ready to leave on Tuesday.”

“I think it’s historic on different levels,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. earlier this season. “For him to be at this point in his career and still able to produce at the level that he’s producing, I just think all of us, just really able to witness it, be a part of it – it shows his spirit of competition, his no-give-up mentality.