Kings’ Alvin Gentry compares Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James to NFL great Tom Brady
Interim Kings coach Alvin Gentry had high praise for LeBron James as his team prepared to face the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Gentry said what James is doing at age 37 in his 19th NBA season is “phenomenal,” comparing his longevity and level of play to Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady.
“The fact that he’s doing what he’s doing, at the age that he is, is phenomenal, really,” Gentry said. “You can only compare it to Tom Brady, maybe, something like that.”
Brady, 44, is a seven-time Super Bowl champion who was named Super Bowl MVP for the fifth time last season after leading the Buccaneers over the Kansas City Chiefs. He has thrown for league highs of 4,990 yards and 40 touchdowns with 12 interceptions this season for the Buccaneers (12-4), who have clinched the NFC South.
James is a 17-time All-Star, four-time NBA champion and four-time MVP. He has appeared in 1,337 regular-season games and 266 playoff games, logging more than three seasons worth of postseason games.
James is averaging 28.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.6 assists for the Lakers this season. He was shooting 52.3% from the field and 37.4% from 3-point range going into Tuesday’s game.
James has been even more dominant in recent weeks in the absence of Lakers center Anthony Davis, who has been out since Dec. 19 with a sprained MCL in his left knee. Over the past eight games, James has averaged 34.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and 6.0 assists while shooting 56.8%.
James started at center against the Kings, something he has done a number of times with Davis out of the lineup. Gentry said James is a problem no matter what position he plays.
“First of all, it doesn’t matter if he’s at 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 6, 7, 8 — it doesn’t matter,” Gentry said. “Obviously, he’s playing at such a high level right now.
“… When he’s playing the 5 position, it just creates a lot of matchup problems. You want to play small, but he’s not a small, so him playing center is not a stretch by any stretch of the imagination. You’ve just got to do the best you can and play really solid team defense to help in that situation.”
