Humility is for the birds.
LeBron James scored 39 points on just 18 shots in the Heat’s 110-104 victory over the Mavericks on Friday night. LeBron missed only five shots all night, leading to an impressive .778 field goal percentage. After the game, one reporter wondered aloud just what LeBron would do if he took over a game like Toronto’s Rudy Gay, who earlier this week launched a league high 37 shots  — but made only 11 of them.
Never one to sell himself short, LeBron answered, “You give me 37 shots in a game, I’ll have 60, 70. I had 40 tonight on 18 shots. If I get 37 shots in a game, I’m going to put up 60. Easy.”
James has scored 50 or more points nine times in his career, with eight of those games coming as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. During his time in Cleveland, the offense didn’t just run through LeBron, it was LeBron. Naturally, this led to him holding onto the ball longer and taking more shots. His career high in points came in 2005 when he scored 56 points off of 36 field goal attempts, 12 three-point attempts and 15 free throws to become the youngest player in NBA history, at that time, to score over 50 points in a game.
After several MVP awards and maturing into the premier player of today’s NBA, LeBron may actually be capable of what he boasts, but putting up 60 on even the worst teams in the league is unlikely to be as “easy” as he claims.
