Why LeBron James will always be the best player in the NBA

 LeBron James still has it.

James finished with 19 points, including five 3-pointers, in the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers' last road game of the regular season against the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday, giving them a lead over their rivals. led to a 21-point comeback. The Lakers are in the city and are their in-arena rivals for now until the Clippers move to Intuit Dome in Inglewood next season. His heroic performance not only proved that the Lakers, currently in ninth place in the NBA's Western Conference, are still alive, but that at 39 years old he still has the ability to be the best player in team history. I proved that I have it. . According to Colin Cowherd and Rachel Nichols, anytime.

Nichols agrees that while James may be past his incredible peak since his days with the Miami Heat, the current version of him is still one of the best in the league, adding Joined Cowherd. [LeBron James' epic show against the Clippers proves the Lakers can't be ignored]

"He's not consistently the best player in the league," Cowherd said.

Nichols agreed, noting that in his prime, James could lead his team to victory against any opponent, even an NBA title contender like the Clippers. “Obviously, offensively, it was great hitting all those 3-pointers,” Nichols said. “But the truth is, he played great defense. He bothered Kawhi (Leonard) on the last shot. And when they started doubling him up and taking away his ability to get to the basket, he made all the right plays with all the right teammates that he had a lot of confidence in. "It's like Toby Keith saying, 'I'm not as good as I was, but I'm just as good as I was,' and that's who LeBron is now. 82 games and three months of playoff games every night in Miami. He may not be the LeBron MVP this season, but if he does it, there will be no one to match him in the hot night league, which he did (Thursday). Like it was.”

But the Lakers need more peak nights from LeBron, as they sit three games behind the sixth-place New Orleans Pelicans and otherwise seem destined for one more playoff round. would be. field. Run at the end of the season.