Team USA took the floor for the first time this year in an actual game when it played against Canada in an exhibition contest on Wednesday. It won easily, 86-72, and it spread the wealth around offensively.
While LeBron James was involved in several highlight plays, he mostly kicked back and let others do lots of the heavy lifting. He finished with seven points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals and one blocked shot in 19 minutes of playing time.
It is the type of stat line that Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors has put up with regularity for the past decade, and it had Kevin Garnett declaring on X (formerly Twitter) that James could play 10 more seasons if he adopted such a role (h/t Ahn Fire Digital).
Lord! Bron could play 10 more years in a Draymond role. 💯 🇺🇸 🫡
— Kevin Garnett (@KevinGarnett5KG) July 11, 2024
Some have questioned the wisdom of James committing this summer to Team USA when he has an insane amount of wear and tear on his body from 21 NBA seasons. But on the other hand, Team USA has one of its most talented rosters ever, which should allow James to carry a very light workload.
Even at age 39, James has shown very little slippage, both in terms of athleticism and production. He’s coming off a season in which he averaged 25.7 points, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds a game while shooting 54% overall and 41% from 3-point range.
If he remains healthy, he could possibly transition into more of a supporting role such as the one Green has embraced. But one has to wonder if James would even be willing to do so, both in terms of taking a major hit to his statistical output and simply putting in that many seasons in the NBA.
