LeBron puts out stern warning after much-needed Lakers win

Finally, oh finally, the correct levers were pulled, the right buttons pushed, and the gyroscopic spectrometer was accurately held in place, keeping the spaceship on course and level with the cosmic plane out in front of the crew, the sweat droplets falling like sauce dollops a physical manifestation of the biological invasion known as being utterly terrified.

Sparks may still periodically squeeze out of panel gaps and spray across the control panel lit up like a Japanese billboard, but for now, the engines are clapping along in their comforting applause and the crew, dressed in yellow and purple, can smile.

LeBron James’ 11-for-13 rate of scoring from the field, with his 84.6% shooting percentage, is not the story, and that’s despite it being in his top three performances of his 23-year-long career at the top. The story is not even the rumours of tension in the camp, nor the performance that made Luka Doncic look like Frankenstein’s monster up against a squadron of field mice.

“I don’t want to create the narrative of me and Luka... It needs to be all of us”

The story is that the Los Angeles Lakers won a game. Because when you have gone on a three-game losing streak and things feel like they’re about to collapse, with rumours swirling of arguments and crisis meetings and putting the whole project in the bin, winning can be the hardest thing to do in the Universe.

“I don’t want to create the narrative of [just] me and Luka,” James said in the aftermath of their delightful double act that saw the Sacramento Kings dispatched 125-110. “It’s five guys on the floor and seven guys that come off the bench. It needs to be all of us. [But] it’s important that we set the tone.”

“I just felt in a really good rhythm tonight,” he admitted when asked about his own numbers. “Had a good spring to my step, to my bounce and just tried to make the most out of my touches.”

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Their coach, JJ Redick, has probably lost a few pounds in sweat too over the past few days which, since they are travelling at light-speed in the world of NBA, feels like an eternity. He didn’t hold back in his previous press appearances, lambasting the team on multiple occasions as the press hive mind went into overdrive. After the win against the Kings, however, things settled: “I’m not surprised at the way those two guys played together tonight, because yesterday was one of the best practices we’ve had with the two of them playing together and just sharing the basketball and playing two-man action,” Redick said, smiling, hand stroking the tiller of his ship.

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