With Los Angeles officially eliminated from playoff contention, the Lakers announced Friday LeBron James will miss their final two regular season games. It’s uncertain James would have been available anyway—he’s missed the last three games with a sprained ankle—but his absences Friday against Oklahoma City and Sunday at Denver are significant because it leaves him short of the minimum 58 games required for the NBA scoring title. The Lakers veteran had been neck and neck with Joel Embiid, averaging 30.3 points per game to Embiid’s 30.4.
With LeBron no longer eligible, the scoring crown will now be contested by Embiid and reigning Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (29.9 ppg). Both have two games remaining. Kevin Durant (29.9 ppg) would have been in the mix as well. However, like James, the Nets All-Star didn’t play enough games to qualify (53).
No Sixer has led the league in scoring since Allen Iverson in 2005 (30.7 points per game), though that could change in a matter of days. While some teams have the luxury of resting their stars for the final few games of the regular season, Philadelphia isn’t one of them. The Sixers are still fighting for seeding (they trail Milwaukee by a game for second in the Eastern Conference) and would love to establish some consistency on the heels of a rollercoaster stretch, going 3-4 in their last seven games. Coach Doc Rivers will likely give Embiid every opportunity to put up monster numbers in a last-ditch bid for MVP, even if that ship has likely sailed (Nikola Jokic remains a heavy favorite to win his second MVP in as many seasons, holding -330 odds on FanDuel Sportsbook).
If he pulls it off, Embiid would be the first center to pace the league in scoring since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000 (29.7 ppg). Despite ranking second to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, James has just one scoring title to his credit, coming as a member of the Cavaliers in 2008 (30.0 ppg).
James did all he could to keep his team from falling apart this season, but obviously it wasn’t enough with the underachieving Lakers now sitting an embarrassing 18 games under .500 (31-49). Many have called this Lakers team among the most disappointing in league history, squandering an All-Star roster littered with future Hall-of-Famers including James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony, all of whom were named to the NBA’s 50th Anniversary squad earlier this year.
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