Suddenly! James! Something worried happened...

Last night, when 40-year-old LeBron James appeared on Steve Nash's podcast "The Brain of the Field", he used the word "fear" to describe his career for the first time - not fearing losing, but fearing that his body suddenly lost control.

Iron Man, who has played in the NBA for 22 years and has never been absent from the playoffs due to injury, admitted that he had experienced the longest three minutes of his life after being hit by the left knee in the first round of G5: "I fell to the ground, and my knee seemed to be nailed to death, and I couldn't even turn over. That was a pain I had never tasted."

Go back to 5 days ago, the fifth game between the Lakers and the Timberwolves.

With 8 minutes and 39 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Divinchenzo pushed his left knee hard against James' left knee when he was providing a no-ball cover for Randall. In the camera, Lao Zhan fell to the ground with his left hand tightly pinching the upper part of his knees, and blue veins on his forehead bulged. When the team doctor rushed up, his knees were already swollen like a baseball stuffed.

But no one expected that this tough guy who gritted his teeth and played after the game and was chatting and laughing with Edwards could not even get out of bed the next morning.

"I tried to get out of bed on Thursday morning, but it was so painful that I shouted out loud." Zhan smiled bitterly on the show, "I immediately called the team doctor: 'Don't wait for the MMI on Friday, check now!'"

Diagnosis results made everyone breathe: a second-degree sprain (MCL) of the left medial collateral ligament, that is, a partial tear of the ligament. The doctor drew a deadline for him: he had to rest for 4-6 weeks, and even if the Lakers won the G5, they would definitely not be able to play in the subsequent games.

This knee hit completely tore off the mask that time has put on James.

We always say that he is "reversely growing", saying that he can still flat frame and dunk at the age of 40, but selectively ignore the third-level wear of his knee cartilage and the "Medal" of calcification in the joint cavity.

This injury is like a robot that suddenly lost power. In the past 22 years, he has avoided devastating injuries such as cruciate ligament tear and meniscus removal through scientific training, but the accumulated losses will eventually come to his door.

Lao Zhan said the truth on the show: "I used to think the finals were taken for granted." This sounded sad.

22 years of career, he played 292 playoff games, the first in history.

But now, this "most arduous" record has become a shackle: in order to keep pace, the medicine he injected into his knees and physical therapy he did over the years have been overdrawing his final health credit.

But let's not just be sad. There is a touching detail in the show: After the G5 ended, James hugged Edwards and said, "Your era will come." This is not a scene - at last year's Olympics, 24-year-old Huazi pestered James and learned to walk all day long like a star chaser. Now James handed over the scepter with his own hands.

This is probably the best way to pass on sports: you can defeat me, but I will smile and watch you surpass me. The doctor said he could resume training in early June, and it would be no problem for him to return full blood next season.

But anyone with a discerning eye understands that this injury is a turning point. In the future, James may never be able to play 42 minutes per game in the series, and he will no longer take risks and bear the tough with injuries.

But for us fans, it may be more important to watch him finish the game healthy and watch him pass on the experience he has accumulated over 20 years to young people like Huazi and Tatum.