Lakers News: LeBron James Pulled A Babe Ruth Pregame In Hawks Victory

Sports aficionados or, heck, general cultural aficionados probably recall that former Boston Red Sox/New York Yankees great Babe Ruth famously appeared to predict a home run during an at-bat in Game 3 of the Yankees' 1932 World Series matchup with the Chicago Cubs. Film footage exists of Ruth approaching home plate in the fifth inning and appearing to point towards center field at two different moments during his at-bat, eventually hitting a home run in the neighborhood of 490 feet down center field.

We're not saying a regular-season game moment for a Los Angeles Lakers team that in all likelihood appears doomed to make the play-in tournament or worse this year carries with it any of the historical significance of the Babe's 91-year-old prognosis, but even still, LA All-Star forward LeBron James, on his 38th birthday, pulled his own Ruth-ian magic when he told teammates ahead of their December 30th game against the Atlanta Hawks that he would score at least 40 points.

He actually wound up getting 47, during a 130-121 Lakers win.

"I called it before the game so I had to make it happen. After starting 1-for-5 I didn't know it was going to happen." @KingJames with @LakersReporter on his 47-point performance against Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/R2GFUhg7AN
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 31, 2022

In the midst of James's postgame conversation with Spectrum SportsNet reporter Mike Trudell, starting LA point guard Dennis Schroder approached the duo and revealed that James predicted pregame he would score at least 40 points.

"I called it before the game, so I had to make it happen. After starting 1-for-5 [from the floor] I [didn't] know it was going to happen."

"At the end of the day, the game is the game. I didn't even know [I had played] three [games] in four nights, I just got my mind and my body ready to go tonight... To get a win... is a treat."

Following that patchy 1-of-5 shooting start, James finished on a 17-of-22 shooting tear from the field. Not too shabby for a guy playing his 20th NBA season. Let's see what The King has in store for us tonight against the Charlotte Hornets, in his second age-38 contest.