LeBron James is unquestionably one of the most durable, physically gifted basketball players the world has ever seen. He’s traveled tons of miles, violently hit the hardwood tons of more times, and gone through 14 roller coaster seasons of ups and downs, and twists and turns — that much is known.
It’s both mentally and physically taxing to do what an NBA player does during the year, let alone for fourteen straight seasons. James, like many other players, has been forced to deal with his fair share of difficulties in the league: We’ve seen him come up short in championship games, battle through injuries, and face thousands upon thousands of critics who wish to shut him down.
Despite all of this, LeBron made some interesting comments on this season in particular after the team’s embarrassing home loss to Washington on Saturday:
“This has been one of the most challenging seasons of my career, just because of all the injuries,” James said, according to CBS Cleveland. “It’s been very challenging on our ball club, the lineups and different guys in and out. We get one guy to come in and then we get another guy out.
“Tonight we thought we was whole and then Shump is pulled late,” James continued. “So, it’s been very challenging.”
The Cavaliers have dealt with injury for much of the season, having only a 47-25 record largely because of it. It didn’t help that the defending champions entered the season already shallow at multiple positions, of course, much to the disapproval of LeBron.
When the team finally acquired help — Kyle Korver, Deron Williams, Andrew Bogut — and things were starting to get better, James was forced to witness Andrew Bogut go down with a season-ending leg injury in his debut game.
That, along with significant injuries to starters J.R. Smith and Kevin Love, combined with the fact that James ranks second in the league in minutes played per game, has seemingly taken a toll on LeBron.
Nevertheless, LeBron James is having a career-year statistically and remains in the group of candidates for the Most Valuable Player award.
