After "Decision 2", James was ridiculed for his injury! The 22-year record ended and the two of them welcomed the opportunity to prove themselves.

After "Decision 2" became a marketing promotion, James was revealed to be injured for 3-4 games and was publicly ridiculed by reporters around him! The record of 22 consecutive years of playing in the opening game for the God of War has come to an end. The Lakers have mixed joys and sorrows, and the two people are facing the opportunity to prove themselves.

James is injured for 3-4 weeks

As the preseason is in full swing, ESPN reporter Shams revealed that James, the core of the Lakers forward, has suffered from sciatica on the right side. Not only will he miss the opening game of the new season, but he will also miss at least 3-4 weeks at the beginning of the new season.

The 22-year record ends

This season is the 23rd year of James' career, and he has become the first player in NBA history to have played for at least 23 years. In the previous 22 years, James had played consecutive opening games to set an NBA historical record.

This season is the first time in James' career that he has missed the opening game, and it also announced that the 22-year-old record has been broken.

Lakers team reporter Khobi Price followed up and revealed that the sciatica on James' right side is not a new injury. His original goal was to play in the opening game against the Warriors after missing all preseason games.

Unfortunately, James' recovery from injury is not ideal. In an interview with ESPN on Media Day last week, James also publicly stated that his physical condition was not up to expectations and he was still "gradually recovering."

Lakers team reporter Dave McMenamin revealed that sources close to James revealed to him that James' injury problem is not serious and just needs time to adjust.

James and his team believe that according to the current plan, James can return to the level of dominance he has enjoyed throughout his career, but he will not be able to return to that state in the opening game.

Being ridiculed by American reporters

As a result, after James' unsatisfactory recovery from injuries was revealed, not only did he not receive sympathy from the outside world, but he was ridiculed by ESPN reporter Matt Barrie.

When Matt Barrie talked about this topic in a live broadcast, he publicly joked: "Maybe he should put some Hennessy on the affected area, maybe it will be better!"

The reason why Matt Barrie made fun of James' injury was mainly because before Shams revealed that James' recovery from injury was not ideal, James himself had posted "Decision 2" hinting at retirement through social media to market his Hennessy wine.

This behavior attracted huge attention and indeed created top-notch marketing effects, but it also dealt a huge blow to James' reputation. After all, using an iconic moment like retirement as a marketing tool will inevitably cause controversy.

The two have a good opportunity to prove themselves

James' absence will obviously have a big impact on the Lakers' competitiveness at the beginning of the season. During the previous 22 opening games, James averaged 25.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game.

From the overall winning rate, we can intuitively see James' influence on the Lakers' games. Since James joined, the Lakers have 248 wins and 171 losses when he plays, with a winning rate of 59.1%. When he is absent, it is only 56 wins and 78 losses, with a winning rate as low as 41.8%.

Therefore, faced with such news, Lakers coach Redick could not hide his frustration during the interview.

Redick bluntly stated that James has not participated in any team training with the team and that he has his own recovery timetable. Lakers reporter Buha said that he could clearly feel Redick's frustration during the interview.

The only good news is that in the absence of James, the other two ball-handlers Reeves and Doncic will get more opportunities to prove themselves. The former is in the contract year and hopes to get a big contract next summer, and the latter has lost weight significantly during the offseason.

During James' absence last season, Reeves' averages soared to 27.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game, while his three-point field goal percentages were as high as 49%, 43%, and 91%.

Another data also has certain reference value. After Doncic joined last season, when James and Doncic appeared on the court at the same time, the net efficiency was +1.9. With James and Dong, the net efficiency was -0.6.