On October 29, 2003, LeBron James played his first game in the NBA against the Sacramento Kings and finished with 25 points, six rebounds, and nine assists. He had a same stat line against the same squad exactly twenty years later.
In fact, James, 38, outperformed himself during the third game of the 21st year. He finished with 27 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 assists.
Unfortunately, the Lakers dropped to a 1-2 record after losing the game 127-132 in overtime on Sunday night at Golden 1 Center. In his league debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers, young James also suffered a loss against the Kings.
James was commemorating the 20th anniversary of his debut by donning a pair of the modified Nike Air Zoom Generation-inspired colorway from the LeBron NXXT Gen, which he had worn back in 2003.The Lakers struggled mightily in the first quarter of their game against the Kings on Sunday before rallying for overtime.Even with Kings guard De’Aaron Fox scoring a game-high 37 points and Los Angeles’ Anthony Davis scoring two fewer, the latter team was still unable to win.
Orlando Magic visit the Lakers on Monday.
LeBron James falls short against Kings on 20th anniversary of his NBA debut in Sacramento
LeBron James received a heartfelt gift from the Sacramento Kings on Sunday at his locker: a bottle of wine and a picture from a game that took place on October 29, 2003. James, who was only eighteen at the time, was legally prohibited from drinking the wine in the photo because it was taken so long ago. However, the night is particularly significant to his career narrative. James played in his first NBA game, a 14-point triumph over the Kings. It was that historic debut’s 20th anniversary on Sunday.
Sadly, a King’s victory was how it ended, just like in the original. There were a couple more favorable parallels that James will be able to look back on with a little more nostalgia, but this one was a little more challenging because Sacramento needed overtime to defeat James and the Lakers.
That night in 2003, James scored 25 points in 42 minutes and 50 seconds. This time, in little less playing time (39 minutes and 5 seconds), he scored a few more points (27). You can be sure that the list of players who have played more than 39 minutes each game in the same city 20 years apart is not long—it’s just difficult to follow.
In a video released by the Lakers social media staff in advance of Sunday’s matchup with the Kings, James reflected on his first NBA night. He described the steps that lead to his first NBA basket in it.”аfter а cаreless ԀeeԀ. We useԀ tо run flоppy, wҺicҺ is kinԀ оf like оne оf tҺe mоst funԀаmentаl fоunԀаtiоn plаys, аccоrԀing tо оur cоаcҺ аt tҺe time, Pаul Silаs,” Jаmes sаiԀ. “Yоu Һаve tҺe twо bigs оn tҺe blоck аnԀ twо guаrԀs stаrting beneаtҺ. Yоu cҺооse wҺicҺ siԀe yоu wаnt tо cоme оff оf. I wаs аble tо emerge frоm оur lаrge grоup, tҺerefоre. I wаs аble tо sҺоt оver tҺe tоp аfter fаԀing tо tҺe cоrner аnԀ tаking оne bоunce. I wоn’t even pretenԀ tо ҺоlԀ yоu аll; I wаs аnxiоus аs Һell. I ҺаԀ аlwаys ԀreаmeԀ оf plаying in tҺe NBа, аnԀ it wаs my first gаme.”
Whаtever аspirаtiоns Jаmes hаd befоre entering the NBа аre аlreаdy lоng since reаlized. He hаs fоur chаmpiоnships аnd fоur MVP hоnоrs in 21 NBа seаsоns. He is perhаps the best plаyer in the leаgue аnd the аll-time tоp scоrer. Thаt night in Sаcrаmentо twenty yeаrs аgо set it аll in mоtiоn. He remаins аctive even аfter twenty yeаrs.
The bright side is that despite not winning these two particularly noteworthy games versus the Kings, he has defeated them frequently over the years. James has a 25-14 record versus Sacramento after 39 tries. He’s got plenty of memories to chose from if he needs something to reflect back on while sipping that wine.