Pacific Notes: James, Harden, Harkless, Fox, Schröder

LeBron James came in Thursday just 10 minutes after passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most in NBA history after passing him in total minutes (including playoffs) last year. He will likely set the regular season record against the Kings. James discussed the performance with Athletics’ Jovan Buha and Sam Amick.

“I just think it’s just a commitment to the craft and the passion and love I have for the game,” James said. “I don’t spend much time in the off-season. A little more time now, I didn’t spend much time in the offseason, no matter if I played the 10 finals back to back and just always tried to keep my body in tip-top shape.

“And, as I said, I’ve been able to play a lot of minutes and for most of my career be injury free and be available. I wouldn’t say damage free. We all have our injuries in this league and in this sport. But being available to the majority for my teammates, for the franchises, the three franchises I play for, is something I took very seriously.“

James has been rehabbing an injury over the past few weeks and missed a few games last week. According to Buha and Amick, he is open to rest if it makes sense in the schedule.

“I’m just not a guy who likes to play if I’m a little healthy,” James said. “It doesn’t matter. It’s just never been my thing. … If there’s an opportunity where it can benefit my body and benefit my game long-term for the best of the team, then I’m always open to that conversation. So we’ll see what happens.“

We have more from the Pacific Division:

• Although the vision of creating a big three of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and James Harden ultimately unsuccessful, Harden still gives Cutting machines strong leadership and big minutes in a competitive year, Janis Carr of The Orange County Register writes. Leonard and Harden will have a chance to pair up, but the former has been out all year due to injury recovery. George, meanwhile, left in the offseason. Harden is averaging 22.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 8.3 assists while shooting 35.3% from beyond the arc. The Clippers entered Thursday at 15-12. “If he has a bad shooting night, he’ll probably come back and play well the next night.” head coach Tyronn Lue said. “That’s what good players do. They bounce back. We have asked him to do a lot. He has carried a load offensively, made the right passes, read and also scored the basketball. And at the age of 35, it can get tiring. So we demand a lot from him.“
• Current San Diego Cutting machines Guard Elijah Harkless is drawing NBA interest ahead of the G League Showcase, reports SNY’s Ian Begley (via Twitter). He is averaging 15.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.6 steals for LA’s G League club. Harkless went undrafted in 2023 out of UNLV and spent back-to-back offseasons on a training camp deal with the Clippers.
• The Kings have won three of their last four games and four of their last six, but they dropped some winnable games earlier in the season and are an uneven 13-14, good for 12th in the Western Conference. Head coach Mike Brown challenged star De’Aaron Fox to help the team continue to lock in and focus on the details, according to FOX 40 Sacramento’s Sean Cunningham (Twitter link). “Fox has to step up,” Brown said. “He’s a great player, on the verge of being a superstar … you have a big responsibility if you’re that guy and he’s that guy. And he can’t help not be locked in, and he can’t help letting it go if we’re not (locked in) as a team.“
• Dennis Schroeder appeared in his first game as a member of Warriorsstarting on Thursday after being traded by the Nets. As observed by ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk (Twitter link), Jonathan Kuminga moved to the bench after starting each of Golden State’s past six games.