LABron James Discussion: The Final Year?

I thought he passed up wide open looks from 3 to get worse shots (of course he did have some nice passes when he was probably open like the Luka 3 from the top of 3 point line but still if it's the playoffs I don't want him passing to Smart or Laravia in the corner for a contested 3 if he's open)

 

Funnily, LeBron is heading in the same direction that Westbrook did. A heliocentric player thats just lost a little bit of his top line athleticism and it’s affecting his game. For the last 3-4 years his shooting has bridged the gap but that shot isn’t falling at the moment.

If he can get back to 37%+ from 3 and play good defense for 28 mins a game he could be fantastic. Let’s see if he adjusts.

 

He should embrace the Karl Malone impression he did in this game… bang bodies inside for offensive rebounds, play defense and run as fast as he can towards the rim after a steal and endless pick and roll with Reaves on offense

 

Existence in this case is pretty remarkable as it demonstrates pretty remarkable excellence and consistency. Speaks to some big truths about the NBA - such as why teams tank, etc. It's just hilarious that one dude over 20 years has more wins both in the playoffs and regular season than an entire franchise. I had Gemini take a look at this and The Pelicans only won more games 5 times in the last 21 years and 2 of those were Lebron's rookie year and then the Lakers Brick year lol.

 

feel like individual players don't win games by themselves, and some players have very intentionally chosen situations that delivered them wins?

 

I thought winning was the ultimate goal in every sport?

 

Just stop shooting threes.
You can’t make them anymore at even a League Ave Clip.

 

Great players in the NBA seem to consistently drag pretty s***ty teams to the playoffs even barring injuries.
Plus with regards to Lebron I can't think of any other top 20 player who had worst level of talent around them for the first seven year of his career so things even out.

 

Sure but just look at the metrics here 5 years added I would argue is a pretty huge deal. Lebron made all nba last year that 21 straight all nba appearances. All stars average around 12 years in career duration so Lebron is putting up a career of All-NBA seasons year in and year that is almost double the career length of an median player whose made an all star team

If you look at Jordan he had 9 consecutve all-nba, 1.5 years off, then 3 more all-nba. Lebron almost doubled that. Just unprecedented length of excellence for a basketball player (Kobe I think had 15 which is amazing as well but you're adding 25% more with James just bonkers)

 

Respect to LeBron for accepting his role for the betterment of the team

 

Absolutely, if he can stay with that we are going to be a tough out.

 

The man was shot out of a canon. It has to matter to the other players, amazing to see.

 

Two dives in the fourth. I find it laughable when media heads say he has checked out. It makes no sense, playing professional sports that old jsut leaves you banged up every night - why play the game in your 23rd season if you don’t want to win?

I did chuckle on those two plays though, he is still crazy athletic in a straight line, but he has lost some agility, he looked old diving for those balls and not getting up super quick hehe.

Great effort by old man Logan!

 

12-15 shots per game

Put more effort on defense

Cut to the basket more

Let Reaves/Luka handle more of the ball-handling duties

If he can do that, it unlocks a new potential for this team.

It's a shame his 3P shot isn't falling because if he could knock down wide open threes, he'd be a huge threat.

Lakers suffer when LeBron holds onto the ball because it just makes having Luka/Reaves pointless. Those two at this point of their career can get to their shot quicker and better than LeBron can. He should be able to get 10 points just off cutting and fastbreak every game. LeBron's still played like AD was on the team so that was a big problem.