Father Time remains undefeated, but LeBron James has him hanging on the ropes.
By the time the 2023-24 NBA season began in Denver, James was already playing at a higher level than any player in league history after his 20th season. But James has taken that distinction to another level this season.
For starters, he’s averaging more points (26.4 points per game) than the other five players who played a 21st season combined (24.0). But what’s most impressive about this 21st season is that James, who has already established an unprecedented level of efficiency and longevity throughout his GOAT-level career, has somehow become even more efficient in 2023-24.
Through 13 games, James is posting career highs in field goal percentage (58.6 percent), 2-point shooting percentage (68.0 percent), effective field goal percentage (65.2 percent) and real shots (67.1 percent). More specifically, he is posting career-best shooting percentages on shots at the rim (82 percent), long mid-range jumpers (47 percent) and cornerless 3-pointers (40 percent), according to Cleaning the Glass. His 39.7 mark from 3-point range nearly matches his career-best 40.6 percent from the 2012-13 season.
How is James achieving career-best efficiency at his age while dealing with a left calf contusion?
“I don’t know,” James told reporters after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 105-104 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday. “Show up. Show up, put in the work, and then go out and trust it.”
James is showing up and playing at an MVP level for the surging Lakers, who have won five of their last six games in large part thanks to his play. Without his nightly heroics, the Lakers’ slow start could have easily been disastrous. Instead, the Lakers are 8-6 and on an upward trend.
GO DEEPER
Introducing ‘A King’s Reign’, a podcast focused on the remarkable career of LeBron James
James remains elite by most advanced metrics. He is fifth in the NBA in Estimated Plus-Minus (EPM), fifth in Estimated Wins (EW), fourth in Value Over Replacement Player (VORP), sixth in Box Plus-Mins (BPM), eighth in Player Efficiency Rating (PER). and 13th in Win Shares. He currently projects as a second-team All-NBA forward at the very least, if not a first-team selection. He is still easily a top 10 player, a remarkable feat.
James has put on the cape in decisive moments, when the scoring margin is within five points in the last five minutes of a game. He is tied for second in the league in clutch points (38), first in clutch field goals (14) and third in clutch field goal percentage among the 54 players who have attempted at least 10 shots in such situations (70 .0 percent). The Lakers are 5-2 in the seven games that James has played and had decisive minutes.
Most recently, James scored a then-season-high 35 points to help defeat the Portland Trail Blazers in the fourth quarter in a hostile season-tournament environment last Friday. Two nights later, he scored a season-high 37 points on Dillon Brooks and the Rockets, scoring 23 points in the second half and icing the game with the go-ahead free throw with 1.9 seconds left after passing to Brooks and attack three. Rockets defenders in the paint.
“He was outstanding,” head coach Darvin Ham said of James’ performance vs. Houston. “The LeBron we’ve all come to know and love over these 21 years.”
It’s just that James is playing differently than he normally does. With the Lakers entrusting more of the keys to the offense to D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves, James is operating more as a dangerous off-ball threat, where he can take advantage of his basketball IQ, strength and athleticism in space. . James is creating his own offense less often than ever. The percentage of his 2-point (48.0 percent) and 3-point (75.9 percent) baskets that are assisted by others are career highs, according to Basktball-Reference.com.
His play type usage has also increased marginally in several notable categories: he is used more off screens (from 1.9 percent last season to 3.6 percent this season), as a pick-up player and-rolls (up from 4.5 percent last season). to 5.9 percent this season), in transfers (from 3.4 percent last season to 6.2 percent this season) and in changes (from 9.5 percent last season to 11.4 percent this season), according to NBA.com player tracking. statistics.
While most of these percentages are small increases, they add up to a different offensive approach for James.
No Lakers have benefited more from the Lakers’ increased spacing (at least when their new five-out offense is working properly) than James. Los Angeles has progressively used him in more creative ways, taking advantage of his ability to read his own defender, his teammates and the rest of the defense at high speed.
Here’s an example: Reaves passes the ball to Jaxson Hayes and cuts to block James, who immediately flows in to receive a dribble handoff from Hayes. With a lead from the opening action, James outruns Sacramento Kings big man Domantas Sabonis to draw a firing crowd.
In this variation of a similar action, Russell brings the ball up the court while Anthony Davis blocks James from expanding to the other side of the arc. Russell bounces an inbound pass to Davis and then sets a screen for James, freeing James to receive a pass from Davis, fakes while defender David Roddy recovers, and then takes a dribble to finish at the rim. (Davis’ timely throw certainly helps, as he drags his defender, Bismack Biyombo, away from the fray.)
At times, the Lakers will be even more direct when taking James off a screen. This time, Reaves dribbles down the right side of the court and Christian Wood blocks James on the opposite side, allowing him to get open, cut, or curve, depending on how the defender reacts to the screen. Here, James takes a broader approach before accelerating toward the basket, using one dribble and his shoulder to clear Orlando Magic big man Goga Bitadze for the flick.
“He’s playing phenomenal right now,” Davis said Sunday. “His shot of him is falling. He’s attacking the paint, making the right reads, doing it on the defensive end. “He’s doing everything for us and it’s our job to try to compliment him and help him with our shots or plays.”
Forty-seven percent of James’ shot attempts this season have reached the rim, his highest percentage from that distance since 2018-19, his first season in Los Angeles, according to Cleaning the Glass. That includes taking more dunks, or at least attempting to do so, with 7.3 percent of his field goal attempts being dunks, also his highest percentage since the 2018-19 season (8.1 percent).
“(My teammates) have been joking about me, saying that I put the ball up too much when I have an open line,” James said.
Turn the corner and fly 👑 pic.twitter.com/MoQqUyhRNv
– Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 20, 2023
But James has been just as lethal from beyond the arc, which is a major step forward for the Lakers’ offense in crunch time and in the playoffs.
This is a trickier set: Russell and Davis run a quick two-man game, diverting the Trail Blazers’ attention away from James, who is positioning himself to curl up behind a Davis screen on an open 3-pointer at the top of the bow. James’ defender, Jerami Grant, is a step back and passes under the screen. Pop.
Historically, opposing defenses have dunked their defenders off the ball to load up the paint against the Lakers in the James-Davis era. When the Lakers run pick-and-rolls with Russell or Reaves as ball handlers, they often place James on the opposite wing, one pass away, where he is ready to catch and shoot, catch and drive, or fake and drive. . .
This is an easy look for James, who is shooting 44.4 percent on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers.
This was supposed to be the season where James took a step back and ceded more offense to Davis, Reaves and Russell. But even though James’ usage rate has dropped (from 33.3 percent last season to 30.2 percent this season), the Lakers have been as connected to James as ever. They are 23.8 points per 100 possessions better with him on the court than on the bench, a gigantic figure. They are noticeably worse without him on both ends, meaning Los Angeles’ struggles continued figuring out how to survive when he’s not on the court.
“He doesn’t even look like he’s 38,” Davis said.
James doesn’t look like he’s 38 based on his production, but he’s actually five weeks away from turning 39. He’s missed time due to major injuries in four of his five seasons in Los Angeles, and his long-term health remains optimal. importance to the Lakers’ championship aspirations.
The Lakers’ plan to keep James on a minutes restriction of approximately 28 to 30 minutes per game lasted an entire game. James’ notable play and the Lakers’ early-season struggles have led him to play more than 30 minutes in 10 of his 13 games. Going forward, the Lakers will need to strategically find room to rest James, whether in the form of fewer minutes or fewer games, as they did on November 12 when they sat James. their 116-110 victory over the Blazers.
“The way he takes care of himself at every level alleviates some of that stress and some of that worry,” Ham said before that game. “The most important thing is to be smart with your stretches. The general minutes will be whatever they are depending on the nature of the game. The way we interpret it, the increments in which we interpret it, that’s what you have to keep in mind. And also what you do on non-game days. …That helps us – when he is able to reach a middle ground in that sense.”
In the grand scheme of things, the Lakers’ performance has not matched their 8-6 record. They sit 22nd in net rating as of Tuesday morning, a mark more indicative of a Play-In or low-end lottery team than a contender. They have struggled to shoot the ball, match their opponents’ energy in the first quarters, take care of the ball and protect the defensive glass. The rotation is unstable. Key pieces are still out.
But more often than not, it hasn’t mattered because the Lakers have James on their side, the greatest player of his generation, and perhaps the greatest of all time.
Whether this streak is simply a streak of hot shooting, a newfound efficiency due to offensive spacing, another level of dominance or some combination of all three, James continues to inexplicably defy the aging process and carry the Lakers on their widths. shoulders, without any sign. to slow down as he approaches 39.
“I’m just trying to push the limit,” James said. “Look how far I can take this. It’s me vs. Dad time.”
(Top photo: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
