“Misdemeanor”: Former NBA Champion Reveals Why LeBron James Will Start Strong Next Season

Published 11/07/2020, 11:00 AM EST

LeBron James and the LA Lakers have little time to celebrate their championship win. The 2020-21 NBA season will kick off on December 22, 2020. This news comes after strenuous negotiations between the league officials and the NBPA. Given the NBA finals ended in October, this will be the quickest offseason before the start of a new season in history.

The 2019-2020 season was halted in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season resumed in July when teams traveled to the Orlando bubble. Due to the delay in the season, the playoffs and finals concluded in October, four months after the initial date.

The Los Angeles Lakers won the 2020 NBA Championship, defeating the Miami Heat in six games. LeBron James won the Finals MVP, at age 35.

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But James’ age also makes the short recovery period a challenge. While he spends a lot of money to keep his body in pristine shape, he cannot completely recover in such little time between seasons. James has even joked about cherry-picking which games he plays for the first month of the NBA season.

Perkins backs LeBron James to start the new season

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Former NBA Champion Kendrick Perkins went on ESPN’s First Take to discuss the restart of the NBA season and what it means for LeBron James. Perkins believes that James will be ready to go next season and will not slow down.

“The man is built different than everyone else! That’s just what it is. He’s not from here, he’s from Wakanda. He’s built different. He spends $2 Million a year on his body. He works on his body nightie and night out, he’s dedicated. This is misdemeanor to LeBron James.”

Perkins also suggested that James will not have to carry the load of the Lakers, because of fellow teammate Anthony Davis. “He’s ready. And by the way, he’s got Anthony Davis so he doesn’t have to carry the load. He has someone else he can lean on.”

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The 2008 NBA Champion also suggested that LeBron fully knew that an early turnaround was likely when he agreed to enter the bubble. “LeBron knew what he was getting himself into when he signed up for the bubble. He knew when the players’ association agreed to play in the bubble, that there was a strong possibility that the following season would be a quick turnaround. Everyone knew this.”

Kendrick Perkins played with LeBron James in Cleveland. He has been very vocal about how good LeBron James is and his potential to win another NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers.

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Aaditya Krishnamurthy is an NBA & NFL journalist for EssentiallySports, before which he worked at BusinessWorld magazine. He has been a fan of Basketball for over 10 years now, since Shaquille O’Neal was a Phoenix Suns player. During his time at Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts, he started a sports magazine for the college called the Overtime Tribune and hosted the Overtime Tribune Podcast until he graduated.

“Misdemeanor”: Former NBA Champion Reveals Why LeBron James Will Start Strong Next Season

Perkins backs LeBron James to start the new season

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