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By Matthew Couden
Contributing Writer
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LeBron James is in his 23rd season and, amid his lengthy career, is still willing to do whatever he can to help his Los Angeles Lakers teammates stack up wins.
On Thursday, the basketball legend finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, a far cry from previous performances where he would light up the scoreboard or achieve predictable triple-doubles.
Instead, he continued to watch the passing of the torch to his fellow superstar, Luka Doncic, who achieved his Lakers' career-high, 51 points, against the Chicago Bulls on 17-of-31 field goal shooting. Doncic nearly had a triple-double, too, finishing just one assist shy of getting another.
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Teammate Austin Reaves added 30 points, as the Lakers defeated the Bulls, 142-130, pushing their winning streak to four games and overall record to 41-25.
Read more: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Breaks Wilt Chamberlain Record Against Celtics
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Following the game, LeBron spoke about making a "sacrifice" to help his teammates, Doncic and Reaves, after returning from injuries.
"If it benefits others, it benefits the team. The team is most important. Everybody's successful when we win. So yeah, it is a sacrifice. I know what I'm capable of still doing as an individual, but what's important for this team, I'm able to adapt to what's important to this team, and that's the only thing that matters," James told reporters postgame.
Luka's career high of 51 possibly came at the expense of other players getting more points, but that was OK with LeBron due to the W.
Last night's sacrifice was highly indicative of the type of player LeBron has become in the latter stages of his basketball career, which he seems fine with.
The Lakers star made a similar sacrifice in December when he passed up taking a potential game-winning shot and instead dished the ball to his teammate, Rui Hachimura, to sink the game-winner.
That particular moment was telling, as LeBron finished the game with just eight points, snapping a longtime streak in which King James had scored at least 10 points or more. However, the team picked up a necessary win, and that's what matters most.
Read more: Heat’s Bam Adebayo Reveals Michael Jordan’s Message After Scoring 83
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