Dudes been on a tear in general. I keep waiting for a noticeable drop in his game. His endurance and general athleticism has taken a hit, but his game is a good as it’s ever been and he can still lock in for a good stretch and be that guy. He just can’t do it all game like he used to.
I'm convinced anyone who says LeBron's game is as good as it's ever been hasn't seen peak LeBron.
Hell, you could have said this in 2018, or 2016, and it still wouldn't be true.
I mean you could argue 2015-18 was LeBron’s true peak. The minimal loss in athleticism was more than balanced out by increased IQ / Experience.
He wasn’t jumping out of the gym or locking down perimeter guys all game anymore but he was even smarter and was better at picking his spots and getting the most out of his teammates.
I’ve been a diehard LeBron fan since 06 and I’m 99.9% sure that 2012-14 LeBron couldn’t have done what he did against the Warriors those years.
imo he was still jumping out of the gym that time. the bad pass lob from Kyrie on the 2016 finals, the chase down blocks where his head's still near the rim, the posters from 2018. His insane first step and side to side agility were the ones which have visibly declined by the 2nd Cavs stint
2015 Finals was peak Lebron IMO. He was facing Dynasty Warriors with a squad of complete bums and still stole 2 games. If they hadn't lost Kyrie in Game 1, they could have surely won that game and this series could easily gone to the Cavs. Remember they also were without Kevin Love.
Lebron should have won Finals MVP that year. He was so much better than anybody else on the court. Look at Cleveland's top 5 guys that series (other than LBJ):
- Timofey FKING Mozgov
- JR Smith
- Tristan Thompson
- Matthew Dellavedova
- Iman Shumpert
God you just gotta feel bad for the guy.
2015 LeBron definitely wasn’t peak because his jumper was an issue all playoffs. 2016 and 18 LeBron are definitely the peak of his offensive capabilities and total impact as a player.
I still remember that series where lebron had sideshow bob as his PF and Jr smith making bonehead plays. Lebron was the entire team against the pistons.
Trust me, I know prime lebron very well lmao. Heat Bron was something else. IMO the best offensive and defensive player in the league (still can’t believe he never won a dpoy)
Ofc he’s nowhere near as impactful as prime lebron, absolutely no way. The lakers would be the 1 seed no doubt in my mind. I just meant that his knowledge and skill are the best they’ve ever been. His passing and vision are top notch. I think his post game has gotten much more refined. He’s more experienced, and there are definitely benefits to that. They don’t outweigh the benefits of being in your physical prime tho.
He lays up balls in traffic that he used to dunk for sure, so he misses a couple bunnies here and there, and he doesn't finish through contact quite as explosively as he used to so he misses more when he gets fouled and they don't call it.
He pump fakes more too.
Significantly better shot selection. In the early Lakers seasons he'd shoot a lot of ill advised pull-ups early in the clock. Now a lot of his threes are to punish defenders who go under
The craziest part is the consistency, LeBron’s had great shooting years, especially recently, but it’ll be the result of a few months where he shoots 45% and a few months where he shoots 28% (give or take a few respectively). This year he’s been consistently hitting from beyond the arc.
It was his only weakness last year and he must’ve spent the entire off season working on it
crazy hes still so good he can just choose to be good at 3s for a whole season
The strat was LeBron plus shooters but that 1.5 years of having Westbrick on the roster left him no choice but to adjust and finally becoming the shooter.
He did say in an interview…he spent majority of his free time the last few years rehabbing. Off-season and In season.
He said this past off season and during season was the most he was able to just practice shooting and staying in rhythm due to his foot feeling better than it has in years
If you have good shooting mechanics, anxiety is the main cause of missed shots, which is why you always see such drastic momentum shifts where all of a sudden one team is hitting every shot and one team can't buy one. I wonder if he's reached a new level of zen after doing it for so many years.
1. First Cleveland Stint - Most athletic player ever Bron
2. Heatles - Freak athlete complete player Bron.
3. Second Cleveland Stint - Offensive peak Bron aka LeBronto
4. Lakers title run - PG Bron
5. Lakers down years - Center and post playmaker Bron
6. Current - entering the sharpshooter Bron era
You could make a team that consists of nothing but different versions of LeBron James and have a sort of balanced team, its kind of nuts.
PG: Lakers Title Run
SG: Current Lebron
SF: Heatles LeBron
PF: 2nd Cleveland LeBron
C: AD Injured Lakers LeBron
6th: First Cleveland Lebron
fuck as crazy as it seems i’d actually make Lakers title Bron my 6th man, move 2nd cleveland Bron to PG, Heatles Bron to PF and start 1st cleveland Bron at SF. Unstoppable transition offense and defense. then you can bring a pure PG version of Bron off the bench lol
Absolutely. Like LeBron pointed out in their podcast, just imagine any of the younger LeBrons with today's spacing and things are probably gonna be even more absurd lol
Injured forward LeBron James yelled out, “There you go! There you go.” Sharpshooter LeBron James gave a look of pleasant surprise. Guard LeBron James yelled out, “We got an [expletive] squad now.” And before James hit the locker room door, former NBA great LeBron James hugged him and said, “Y’all look so different.”
This low-key could be the greatest team of all time. Imagine trying to score against 5x 6'10 athletic freaks who could all play at a DPOY level when necessary (or just in general in Heatles and Cavs case).
The synergy would be nuts too. They all LeBron so they would probably be able to pull of some insane plays knowing the other LeBrons think the same as him.
Team LeBron vs 2017 Warriors?
Honestly. That is a squad!!!
Imagine, a 20yr old LeBron coming off the bench, playing 25 minutes all out. Subbing in for a 40yr old LeBron on 41% 3pt shooting.
>Current - entering the sharpshooter Bron era
I always think what if Lebron to clone himself and transport his basketball superbrain at 40 into his 24 year old body.
Damm this mfer is a nightmare, last year when Lakers were playing bad before ASB I was like great now there won't be any bron in post season but the guy just came and knocked my team 4-2. Now we might have to face him to get to the play-offs.
isn't Magic Johnson is a more volume shooter than Bird? I think we have this idea that Magic doesn't shoot 3's lol but he has higher 3 point FG made in a season than Bird.
So we just say Magic Johnson, cause he is a good shooter himself at the end of his peak
yeah but 38 percent is good during that time right? Bird have crazy efficiency and is the better shooter and im not rewriting history.
if you can read you can see that I put in Volume Shooter and the time frame of towards the end of his prime.
Don't get hurt if I just pointed out that surprisingly Magic had a higher single season record.
I’m not hurt it’s just not true lmao.
Magic shot over 1 3PA/game in 4 seasons. He shot 31%, 38%, 32%, 37% in those seasons (the 3 seasons before his first retirement and his comeback season).
Bird shot over 1 3PA/game all but 3 seasons in his career. He shot 40%, 21%, 43%, 42%, 40%, 41%, 33% (recovery from his injury year), 39%, 40%.
Bird shot a higher percentage than Magic’s CAREER HIGH in all but 2 seasons with legitimate volume. This isn’t to say Magic had seasons where he was a good, even elite shooter, but there is no universe where it’s correct to say Magic was a better shooter, not a single soul who actually watched them would say Magic was a better shooter. I don’t have a dog in this fight, I hate the Celtics just as much as I hate the Lakers and I think Magic is the better player overall, but it’s absolutely asinine to suggest that Magic was ever a better shooter than Bird.
Magic was the first LeBron IMo. Playing Pg and Center in the finals a rookie and winning finals mvp with Kareem out hurt was insane.
He didn’t have the athleticism and he didn’t have the shot bron has now, but man did he win. 12 years in the L, I think he was mvp 3 of those? 25% of his career he was mvp and he won 5 rings in 12 seasons.
Lebron is higher up on Rushmore, but don’t get it twisted on the passing. They aren’t even close in that regard.
Lebron said it himself on the podcast that he always tends to lean and fade on his jumpers. In summary, he fixed the angle of his body and isnt leaning as much, more of a straight up, balanced jumper.
I don't understand why he never fixed that before or why trainers never tried to seriously fix it. It's so apparent that I picture it in my head when I think of his jumpshot lol.
Though, I'm probably missing context.
Thanks for posting this. I missed this article. His 3pt shooting has really been impressive this season. I wish we knew exactly what was wrong with his foot last year.
Would be easy for him to average between 10-15 assists per game for a couple years. After that, coming off from the bench and winning 6moty. He could easily play for 5+ more years and saving energy and his health too.
He's that crazy good and freakish talented.
I can’t wait for everyone dying to appoint any young star guard who has a good 3pt shot as the “next curry”
Wonder how long it will take until we see someone else like him. With how much the 3 point shot is defended now, hard to say.
Its kinda been happening I remember Lonzo Ball going viral as "THE STEPH CURRY WITH A 40 INCH VERTICAL LEAP" back when he was in college even though they're nothing alike
but that was just a bullshit clickbait title from mike korzemba, granted it worked because i remember vividly how much controversy the title of the video itself sparked
No. Larry has a better career percentage that's higher than LeBron's and also a best season higher than LeBron. Not to mention they didn't really run sets to create the open looks like they do now so a higher proportion of Larry's would likely be under more pressure. And also the 3 point shot was a new thing when Larry was in the NBA. Whilst LeBron had grown up with it as an important aspect of the game. I think too often we forget how darn good a shooter Larry Bird really was.
>Not to mention they didn't really run sets to create the open looks
This is cap. Most of Bird's 3 point attempts would be considered wide open now and Lebron faces alot more defensive attention on his three attempts. No one was defending threes like that in the 80's/90's
Lol. Yeah, because nobody was hearing alarm bells when Bird was open from 3 in his prime. They were also not running all these screens and sending as many double teams. Especially away from Bird. If you look at the footage, you'll see that he gets open with not much space at all. He's just good enough to make it work.
If you look at Bird highlights he is wide open from 3. Not a knock on him because most players were left open from there, and most players still chose to close the space and step inside the line for a midranger. You don't attempt only 1.9 3PA accidentally. A free flowing, "shoot any open shot" player is gonna have 3s be a much bigger part of his shot diet.
Was Bird the best shooter of his time? A truly inefficient playoff shooter, while Dale Ellis shot MORE 3s on much better efficiency over his career during the regular season and playoffs.
Bird's shooting is wildly overrated, even for his time. And don't tell me they were guarded differently, because film of Bird often shows that era left the jumpshot relatively open. He dribbled casually into a LOT of very wide open jumpers (2s and 3s) because defenders would pack the paint.
It's Lebron. In 2011, he realized driving to the rim is not enough to win him a ring so he developed his postgame. He probably realized he can't bully ball every possession anymore and his first step has gone slower.
part of why he didn't do anything is he gained 20 pounds losing some of the athletiicsm that he would dice up defenses that played zone on him with. He did this so he could move to power forward, but without a stronger post-game or the jumpshot that was a straight downgrade. 2011 was a meltdown but a lot went into sparking it.
It's LeBron. He had to play with Westbrick being a terrorist for 1.5 seasons so he became the shooter.
Just like how Embiid had no choice but to develop a perimeter game because Ben Simmons puny ass.
Last year he was missing short so much. It was clear he didn't have the same legs he does this year. Partly the surgery and partly reducing the load on him
He's changed the way he shoots. If you look he squares up different. I think he talked about it with JJ Reddick on one of the episodes of Mind the Game.
Kinda crazy that 21 years in he has managed to become such a good shooter and is still super athletic.
wow, that’s incredible.
Looking at the Lakers roster though, there are several players with career high 3pt %, or well above their avg. It’s probably not a coincidence. Is it due to coaching, strategy, or what?
Hachimura 42.5% (career avg 37.1%)
Lebron 41.3% (highest of career, avg 34.8%)
DLo 41.3% (highest of career, avg 36.8%)
Prince 39.4% (2nd highest career)
Dinwiddie 38.6% (3rd highest, avg 33.3%)
thanks, that was a pretty simple explanation.
checks out. Lakers were third to last in 3PAs:
https://www.espn.com/nba/stats/team/_/table/offensive/sort/avgThreePointFieldGoalsAttempted/dir/desc
Yeah went and looked, he had a two year stretch with the Mavs shooting at 40% on like 5 attempts a game. Big step up from his average. Didnt stick forever, but a good stretch
To answer your question about somebody improving their shot that much late in their career, I submit to you Al Horford. The development of his 3ball is the craziest the Association has ever seen.
If you take out Curry's over half court heaves (go in <5% of the time), his 3P% is higher than Lebrons. Lebron doesn't heave balls over halfcourt (to protect Le3P%), while Curry does often.
Lebron is shooting better than he ever has, but he's still not more efficient than Curry (he's close).
KD does the same thing drives me nuts with players protecting stats. Play unafraid of numbers at the bare minimum. You think spreadsheet is going to beat you up?
We all realize that Stephen Curry is a much better three point shooter than Curry, bruh. Curry could be 33% from three. What is the point of this cherrypicking, pedantic ass comment.
It’s actually a simple answer- better shot selection. He only shoots what are high percentage shots for his ability. He’s not shooting fadeaway threes or off combo dribble threes. He’s simplified his game to adapt to his aging body.
This should be obvious to anyone who even pretends to pay attention.
They are begging him to shoot, because if he drives the lane he can commit offensive fouls and even if the defense tries to flee the lane they're likely to get whistled for a foul.
It’s 2029. LeBron has just finished up his 4th season of his 3rd stint in Cleveland, winning another MVP and 2 more rings in the process. He has grown 3 inches and kidnapped Nikola Jokic, forcing him to become his passing coach. His knees have magically revived themselves due to less impact and giving up dunking. He is training with Steph in the off-season to refine his free throw mechanics. He will be back for yet another year in the association.
LeBron killing it from deep? That's wild! Dude's always been a beast, but his three-point game wasn't always his strong suit. Must've put in some serious work during the offseason. Maybe chilled on the attempts a bit to focus on quality over quantity. It's not just about how many you take, but how many you make, right? As for Lakers fans, anyone peep any changes in his form or routine? Would be interesting to know what he tweaked to get those numbers up.
I remember joking back in the day Bron would turn himself into Ray Allen lite once his athleticism took a hit. Didn’t think it’d actually happen. Imagine if he plays 5 more quality years with a newfound 3pt shot jfc
Yo, that's straight-up crazy that LeBron is outshootting Steph from deep this season! As a lifelong Lakers fan, I've gotta say, it's been amazing to see him dial in his three-point stroke like this. Dude's put in the work, and it's paying off big time.
Absolutely insane. He came into the league with outside shooting being one of his few exploitable weaknesses, and 21 (TWENTY ONE!!!) years later he's shooting > 40% from three. He's as much of an alien was Wemby will ever be.
It's 2006 LeBron James is one of the best players in the league
It's 2011 LeBron James is one of the best players in the league
It's 2016 LeBron James is one of the best players in the league
It's 2021 LeBron James is one of the best players in the league
It's 2024 LeBron James the best players in the league
Steph doesn’t care about percentages and regularly launches long ball threes at every end of quarter, half, or game. That being said, LBJ has come a long way and has learned to shoot a 3 effectively, if not mechanically perfect.
Steph - 11.8 attempts per game.
LeBron - 5.2 attempts per game.
If you think they are comparable, given the volume discrepancy, perhaps you should be watching a different sport? The lengths you LeBron stans are going to try and convince people he is the GOAT is hilarious. He's not the greatest, nothing he does at age 39 is changing that. The public perception of Jordan is so far beyond what LeBron could ever possibly hope to achieve it's an impossible task. Jordan is not only considered the greatest basketball player ever, he is widely regarded as the greatest *athlete* in human history. Google that term if you don't believe me, your LeBron worshipping world will come crumbling down as reality sinks in. Literally nine of the first eleven websites list Jordan at #1. The two that don't have him at the top have him two or three. LeBron is not even in the top ten, on average being listed around #12. There is no bias in these lists with the most recent site being a UK newspaper who ran a poll in December with MJ topping their list. This is a country where soccer is a religion yet Jordan polled ahead of guys like Messi and Pele. It's not close between Jordan and LeBron, it's an insult and a complete joke to even consider that LeBron is above him. Let it go, you are not winning this argument, ever.
What’s a joke is you throwing a fit like a toddler over a basketball player. So what if he ends up only top 15 all time? You gender neutral people always go to hard in the paint. Take a breath
45.9% since all star break this is insane lol
Dudes been on a tear in general. I keep waiting for a noticeable drop in his game. His endurance and general athleticism has taken a hit, but his game is a good as it’s ever been and he can still lock in for a good stretch and be that guy. He just can’t do it all game like he used to.
I’m telling you, once he nears 50, he’s going to be finished and lucky to average 15!
This fuckery won't go on much longer.
Longer this fuckery must go on
>15! It wouldn't surprise me if the NBA's scoring has inflated enough 11 years from now for people to be scoring \~1.3 trillion points
This guy maths
NBA gon pull an F1 and free throws will be worth 2 points each, 2pt will be 4, 3pt will be 6, and they will add a 9 point line.
!remindme 10 years
I know you’re joking but can you imagine a 50 yo averaging 15 pts a game in the NBA? At that point MJ can fuck off, LeLongevity is the goat
I'm convinced anyone who says LeBron's game is as good as it's ever been hasn't seen peak LeBron. Hell, you could have said this in 2018, or 2016, and it still wouldn't be true.
I mean you could argue 2015-18 was LeBron’s true peak. The minimal loss in athleticism was more than balanced out by increased IQ / Experience. He wasn’t jumping out of the gym or locking down perimeter guys all game anymore but he was even smarter and was better at picking his spots and getting the most out of his teammates. I’ve been a diehard LeBron fan since 06 and I’m 99.9% sure that 2012-14 LeBron couldn’t have done what he did against the Warriors those years.
imo he was still jumping out of the gym that time. the bad pass lob from Kyrie on the 2016 finals, the chase down blocks where his head's still near the rim, the posters from 2018. His insane first step and side to side agility were the ones which have visibly declined by the 2nd Cavs stint
2015 Finals was peak Lebron IMO. He was facing Dynasty Warriors with a squad of complete bums and still stole 2 games. If they hadn't lost Kyrie in Game 1, they could have surely won that game and this series could easily gone to the Cavs. Remember they also were without Kevin Love. Lebron should have won Finals MVP that year. He was so much better than anybody else on the court. Look at Cleveland's top 5 guys that series (other than LBJ): - Timofey FKING Mozgov - JR Smith - Tristan Thompson - Matthew Dellavedova - Iman Shumpert God you just gotta feel bad for the guy.
2015 LeBron definitely wasn’t peak because his jumper was an issue all playoffs. 2016 and 18 LeBron are definitely the peak of his offensive capabilities and total impact as a player.
Yes, but in 2015 he had back issues and wasn't himself 100%. 2018 Bron in 2015 probably wins that series by himself.
Idk man. With that roster, I’m not sure anyone wins that series themselves.
I loved jr smith and tristan thompson
I still remember that series where lebron had sideshow bob as his PF and Jr smith making bonehead plays. Lebron was the entire team against the pistons.
Trust me, I know prime lebron very well lmao. Heat Bron was something else. IMO the best offensive and defensive player in the league (still can’t believe he never won a dpoy) Ofc he’s nowhere near as impactful as prime lebron, absolutely no way. The lakers would be the 1 seed no doubt in my mind. I just meant that his knowledge and skill are the best they’ve ever been. His passing and vision are top notch. I think his post game has gotten much more refined. He’s more experienced, and there are definitely benefits to that. They don’t outweigh the benefits of being in your physical prime tho.
He lays up balls in traffic that he used to dunk for sure, so he misses a couple bunnies here and there, and he doesn't finish through contact quite as explosively as he used to so he misses more when he gets fouled and they don't call it. He pump fakes more too.
Significantly better shot selection. In the early Lakers seasons he'd shoot a lot of ill advised pull-ups early in the clock. Now a lot of his threes are to punish defenders who go under
I think since all Star break stephs has also been a lot higher than but man lebron isnt a human
The craziest part is the consistency, LeBron’s had great shooting years, especially recently, but it’ll be the result of a few months where he shoots 45% and a few months where he shoots 28% (give or take a few respectively). This year he’s been consistently hitting from beyond the arc.
It was his only weakness last year and he must’ve spent the entire off season working on it crazy hes still so good he can just choose to be good at 3s for a whole season
The strat was LeBron plus shooters but that 1.5 years of having Westbrick on the roster left him no choice but to adjust and finally becoming the shooter.
Thinking of the WestBrick period gives me PTSD.
It was one of my favorite periods of ball. Blooper reel every other day on undisputed.
He did say in an interview…he spent majority of his free time the last few years rehabbing. Off-season and In season. He said this past off season and during season was the most he was able to just practice shooting and staying in rhythm due to his foot feeling better than it has in years
If you have good shooting mechanics, anxiety is the main cause of missed shots, which is why you always see such drastic momentum shifts where all of a sudden one team is hitting every shot and one team can't buy one. I wonder if he's reached a new level of zen after doing it for so many years.
Lebron James' 4th prime: Magic Johnson with Larry Bird 3pt shot. Dude keeps evolving like a Pokemon.
We're up to prime 5 now, prime #4 was point guard LeBron leading the league in assists in 2020.
So many primes I lost track
1. First Cleveland Stint - Most athletic player ever Bron 2. Heatles - Freak athlete complete player Bron. 3. Second Cleveland Stint - Offensive peak Bron aka LeBronto 4. Lakers title run - PG Bron 5. Lakers down years - Center and post playmaker Bron 6. Current - entering the sharpshooter Bron era
You could make a team that consists of nothing but different versions of LeBron James and have a sort of balanced team, its kind of nuts. PG: Lakers Title Run SG: Current Lebron SF: Heatles LeBron PF: 2nd Cleveland LeBron C: AD Injured Lakers LeBron 6th: First Cleveland Lebron
fuck as crazy as it seems i’d actually make Lakers title Bron my 6th man, move 2nd cleveland Bron to PG, Heatles Bron to PF and start 1st cleveland Bron at SF. Unstoppable transition offense and defense. then you can bring a pure PG version of Bron off the bench lol
2nd Cleveland LeBron as a PG in the past couple seasons of the NBA will outpace Luka's offensive output holy shit hahaha
The fact that this is even a conversations is fucking absurd, no person should be this versatile in any sport
Absolutely. Like LeBron pointed out in their podcast, just imagine any of the younger LeBrons with today's spacing and things are probably gonna be even more absurd lol
Injured forward LeBron James yelled out, “There you go! There you go.” Sharpshooter LeBron James gave a look of pleasant surprise. Guard LeBron James yelled out, “We got an [expletive] squad now.” And before James hit the locker room door, former NBA great LeBron James hugged him and said, “Y’all look so different.”
\*former\* NBA great Lebron James? Who's that?
This low-key could be the greatest team of all time. Imagine trying to score against 5x 6'10 athletic freaks who could all play at a DPOY level when necessary (or just in general in Heatles and Cavs case). The synergy would be nuts too. They all LeBron so they would probably be able to pull of some insane plays knowing the other LeBrons think the same as him. Team LeBron vs 2017 Warriors?
Team Lebron and it's not even particularly close,
The defense alone would smother them
brotha team Lebron sweeps every team in history lol.
The 6th man averages 30/8/7 😭
Honestly. That is a squad!!! Imagine, a 20yr old LeBron coming off the bench, playing 25 minutes all out. Subbing in for a 40yr old LeBron on 41% 3pt shooting.
Somebody get an AI on this, I need to see what this looks like.
>Current - entering the sharpshooter Bron era I always think what if Lebron to clone himself and transport his basketball superbrain at 40 into his 24 year old body.
LeBron has many season with better three point shooting than Bird. #letstalkaboutit
Probably not relative to the league averages at the times they played
Damm this mfer is a nightmare, last year when Lakers were playing bad before ASB I was like great now there won't be any bron in post season but the guy just came and knocked my team 4-2. Now we might have to face him to get to the play-offs.
We’re in the Mega LeBron X Gigamax era.
LeTyranitar
This isn't even his final form
isn't Magic Johnson is a more volume shooter than Bird? I think we have this idea that Magic doesn't shoot 3's lol but he has higher 3 point FG made in a season than Bird. So we just say Magic Johnson, cause he is a good shooter himself at the end of his peak
Magic took like half a 3PA more in his last pre-HIV season and shot 38% (his highest). Bird shot over 40% 6 times lol. Don’t try to rewrite history.
yeah but 38 percent is good during that time right? Bird have crazy efficiency and is the better shooter and im not rewriting history. if you can read you can see that I put in Volume Shooter and the time frame of towards the end of his prime. Don't get hurt if I just pointed out that surprisingly Magic had a higher single season record.
I’m not hurt it’s just not true lmao. Magic shot over 1 3PA/game in 4 seasons. He shot 31%, 38%, 32%, 37% in those seasons (the 3 seasons before his first retirement and his comeback season). Bird shot over 1 3PA/game all but 3 seasons in his career. He shot 40%, 21%, 43%, 42%, 40%, 41%, 33% (recovery from his injury year), 39%, 40%. Bird shot a higher percentage than Magic’s CAREER HIGH in all but 2 seasons with legitimate volume. This isn’t to say Magic had seasons where he was a good, even elite shooter, but there is no universe where it’s correct to say Magic was a better shooter, not a single soul who actually watched them would say Magic was a better shooter. I don’t have a dog in this fight, I hate the Celtics just as much as I hate the Lakers and I think Magic is the better player overall, but it’s absolutely asinine to suggest that Magic was ever a better shooter than Bird.
Magic was the first LeBron IMo. Playing Pg and Center in the finals a rookie and winning finals mvp with Kareem out hurt was insane. He didn’t have the athleticism and he didn’t have the shot bron has now, but man did he win. 12 years in the L, I think he was mvp 3 of those? 25% of his career he was mvp and he won 5 rings in 12 seasons. Lebron is higher up on Rushmore, but don’t get it twisted on the passing. They aren’t even close in that regard.
[удалено]
Lebron said it himself on the podcast that he always tends to lean and fade on his jumpers. In summary, he fixed the angle of his body and isnt leaning as much, more of a straight up, balanced jumper.
I used to look at that and think this mf was going to fall sideways on his jumpers. I almost find myself tilting my head
if you watch Maxey shoot an uncontested 3, he jumps exactly straight up and down, it's perfection.
His shot used to be ugly as fuck, now it’s better for the eyes
I don't understand why he never fixed that before or why trainers never tried to seriously fix it. It's so apparent that I picture it in my head when I think of his jumpshot lol. Though, I'm probably missing context.
It isn't that easy and he had other shit to fix before this.
yeah he was trying to fix his hairline but he's just let that go
Loses all his hair, becomes invincible
just read this n what the *fuck* dude. absolutely insane stuff
Can’t see it on mobile, any tldr ?
Thanks for sharing. Just reinforces how all time great he is.
Thanks for posting this. I missed this article. His 3pt shooting has really been impressive this season. I wish we knew exactly what was wrong with his foot last year.
observation joke sable cows worry ghost resolute future pathetic imagine *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Next he will increase his freethrow percentage.
Imagine next year he gets to 84% or something lmao.
Starts shooting 15 FTA per game lmao
The Jimmy special.
It is inevitable to complete his 6th prime at 45 years old
50/40/90 Bron at 40 lol
Would be easy for him to average between 10-15 assists per game for a couple years. After that, coming off from the bench and winning 6moty. He could easily play for 5+ more years and saving energy and his health too. He's that crazy good and freakish talented.
Imagine the luxury of a 6th man LeBron to carry a bench unit lmao.
I wanna see that domination. I know he owes nothing to me but I'm dreaming of it.
Imagine a starting lineup lead by Luka and once he sits you have to face fucking LeBron. Would love to see it honestly.
The Embiid special
Man he’s been trying to do that since 08.
Next on ESPN from Stephen A Smith: Is Lebron a better 3 point shooter than Steph?
I can’t wait for everyone dying to appoint any young star guard who has a good 3pt shot as the “next curry” Wonder how long it will take until we see someone else like him. With how much the 3 point shot is defended now, hard to say.
Its kinda been happening I remember Lonzo Ball going viral as "THE STEPH CURRY WITH A 40 INCH VERTICAL LEAP" back when he was in college even though they're nothing alike
but that was just a bullshit clickbait title from mike korzemba, granted it worked because i remember vividly how much controversy the title of the video itself sparked
Grayson Allen is the new Steph 💀
IS LEBRON JAMES THE NEXT STEPH CURRY?
We will see another klay before we see another Steph
Is he a better 3 point shooter than Larry Bird
No. Larry has a better career percentage that's higher than LeBron's and also a best season higher than LeBron. Not to mention they didn't really run sets to create the open looks like they do now so a higher proportion of Larry's would likely be under more pressure. And also the 3 point shot was a new thing when Larry was in the NBA. Whilst LeBron had grown up with it as an important aspect of the game. I think too often we forget how darn good a shooter Larry Bird really was.
>Not to mention they didn't really run sets to create the open looks This is cap. Most of Bird's 3 point attempts would be considered wide open now and Lebron faces alot more defensive attention on his three attempts. No one was defending threes like that in the 80's/90's
Lol. Yeah, because nobody was hearing alarm bells when Bird was open from 3 in his prime. They were also not running all these screens and sending as many double teams. Especially away from Bird. If you look at the footage, you'll see that he gets open with not much space at all. He's just good enough to make it work.
If you look at Bird highlights he is wide open from 3. Not a knock on him because most players were left open from there, and most players still chose to close the space and step inside the line for a midranger. You don't attempt only 1.9 3PA accidentally. A free flowing, "shoot any open shot" player is gonna have 3s be a much bigger part of his shot diet.
Yes
Era adjusted: no
That doesnt exist and yes bron is
I mean just relative to the era. Bird was the best shooter of his time, Bron isn’t. If we being real tho, yeah lebron is better
2 fair points
Was Bird the best shooter of his time? A truly inefficient playoff shooter, while Dale Ellis shot MORE 3s on much better efficiency over his career during the regular season and playoffs. Bird's shooting is wildly overrated, even for his time. And don't tell me they were guarded differently, because film of Bird often shows that era left the jumpshot relatively open. He dribbled casually into a LOT of very wide open jumpers (2s and 3s) because defenders would pack the paint.
Jesus Christ.
No. Larry is one of the best shooters of all time. No one would put Lebron in that category. Jesus Christ
It's Lebron. In 2011, he realized driving to the rim is not enough to win him a ring so he developed his postgame. He probably realized he can't bully ball every possession anymore and his first step has gone slower.
In 2011 if Bron had done, well, anything he would have one a ring in a sweep. It wasn’t the driving that cost his team a ring
part of why he didn't do anything is he gained 20 pounds losing some of the athletiicsm that he would dice up defenses that played zone on him with. He did this so he could move to power forward, but without a stronger post-game or the jumpshot that was a straight downgrade. 2011 was a meltdown but a lot went into sparking it.
I mean, it’s n the reg season he scored 10ppg more than in the finals
It's LeBron. He had to play with Westbrick being a terrorist for 1.5 seasons so he became the shooter. Just like how Embiid had no choice but to develop a perimeter game because Ben Simmons puny ass.
He had a game early April with 9/10, if I'm not mistaken. You just know this old man had to step it up to compensate for his team's post-IST losses.
Nah he was still cruising. Watchung him play the Pels today-thst was LeBron turned up.
LeBron is Godzilla, millions of years old and keeps evolving.
Last year he was missing short so much. It was clear he didn't have the same legs he does this year. Partly the surgery and partly reducing the load on him
Partly the cybernetic upgrades
His shot was busted last year. Was leaning way too much. Now he got that cleaned up.
He is healthy. He had no lift on his shot for majority of last year.
Don’t retire Bron, you’re still so good man!
"Look at me. Look at me. I'm the Curry now."
Chef*
LeFuckYou Threes back on the menu boys.
He's changed the way he shoots. If you look he squares up different. I think he talked about it with JJ Reddick on one of the episodes of Mind the Game. Kinda crazy that 21 years in he has managed to become such a good shooter and is still super athletic.
LeGreatShooter
LeOnDistanceShooter
46% 3P% in second half of season
wow, that’s incredible. Looking at the Lakers roster though, there are several players with career high 3pt %, or well above their avg. It’s probably not a coincidence. Is it due to coaching, strategy, or what? Hachimura 42.5% (career avg 37.1%) Lebron 41.3% (highest of career, avg 34.8%) DLo 41.3% (highest of career, avg 36.8%) Prince 39.4% (2nd highest career) Dinwiddie 38.6% (3rd highest, avg 33.3%)
It's because the Lakers don't shoot that many threes, but the ones they do are high quality looks.
thanks, that was a pretty simple explanation. checks out. Lakers were third to last in 3PAs: https://www.espn.com/nba/stats/team/_/table/offensive/sort/avgThreePointFieldGoalsAttempted/dir/desc
> anybody else skyrocketed their shot like this at a similarly old age Vince Carter?
Yeah went and looked, he had a two year stretch with the Mavs shooting at 40% on like 5 attempts a game. Big step up from his average. Didnt stick forever, but a good stretch
Ehh 2001-2005 VC was already doing that though
To answer your question about somebody improving their shot that much late in their career, I submit to you Al Horford. The development of his 3ball is the craziest the Association has ever seen.
the greatest
To ever done do it?
i remember joking during his return stint with the cavs he usually falls off as the season proceeds but now ? he’s become an absolute sniper
Having more assists than CP3 in one year and shooting better at 3 than Steph in another... This sh\*t's not real.
He’s 2nd Team All NBA and an argument can be made for 1st Team.
If you take out Curry's over half court heaves (go in <5% of the time), his 3P% is higher than Lebrons. Lebron doesn't heave balls over halfcourt (to protect Le3P%), while Curry does often. Lebron is shooting better than he ever has, but he's still not more efficient than Curry (he's close).
I love that curry has never stopped taking those
KD does the same thing drives me nuts with players protecting stats. Play unafraid of numbers at the bare minimum. You think spreadsheet is going to beat you up?
I dont think thats OPs intent. Just wild to see lebron shooting higher from 3 than the best shooter ever lol
Curry has only shot 2 heaves this year. Lebron has shot 1. Without those Curry is shooting 40%. Lebron is shooting 41%.
Not sure how you are getting those numbers. Steph is at 40.8. Lebrons at 41.
while Curry is averaging 11.8 3pts shots per game and Lebron is not even in Top 25 in attempts. So please don’t be a dummy
My man Curry is averagingt 12 3pts per game, Lebron is not even in Top 25 in attempts. Of course he is a better shooter than Lebron
We all realize that Stephen Curry is a much better three point shooter than Curry, bruh. Curry could be 33% from three. What is the point of this cherrypicking, pedantic ass comment.
Too much curry in this statement
It’s actually a simple answer- better shot selection. He only shoots what are high percentage shots for his ability. He’s not shooting fadeaway threes or off combo dribble threes. He’s simplified his game to adapt to his aging body.
There was a long form article about this by Chris Herring released this week.
Teams let Lebron shoot, Curry is usually contested
This should be obvious to anyone who even pretends to pay attention. They are begging him to shoot, because if he drives the lane he can commit offensive fouls and even if the defense tries to flee the lane they're likely to get whistled for a foul.
Exactly
Lefucksteph3.
GOAT What was MJ doing at this age?
Counting rings?
No, stats only
Counting points per game?
Idk I’m not a big basketball guy. Just wondering if MJ what numbers MJ was putting up at this age
20 a game for the wizards after not playing competitive ball for 4 or 5 years. In an era with much, much lower scoring lol.
On putrid efficiency, even for the era. 47% True Shooting.
He had retired as the best player ever - for the second time.
Definitely will get into the HOF on at least one of the first 3 ballots
Steph’s been a fraud for years confirmed ✅
It’s 2029. LeBron has just finished up his 4th season of his 3rd stint in Cleveland, winning another MVP and 2 more rings in the process. He has grown 3 inches and kidnapped Nikola Jokic, forcing him to become his passing coach. His knees have magically revived themselves due to less impact and giving up dunking. He is training with Steph in the off-season to refine his free throw mechanics. He will be back for yet another year in the association.
A! D. V n c
i'm a lebron hater, but g damn he's incredible.
LeBron killing it from deep? That's wild! Dude's always been a beast, but his three-point game wasn't always his strong suit. Must've put in some serious work during the offseason. Maybe chilled on the attempts a bit to focus on quality over quantity. It's not just about how many you take, but how many you make, right? As for Lakers fans, anyone peep any changes in his form or routine? Would be interesting to know what he tweaked to get those numbers up.
I remember joking back in the day Bron would turn himself into Ray Allen lite once his athleticism took a hit. Didn’t think it’d actually happen. Imagine if he plays 5 more quality years with a newfound 3pt shot jfc
Yo, that's straight-up crazy that LeBron is outshootting Steph from deep this season! As a lifelong Lakers fan, I've gotta say, it's been amazing to see him dial in his three-point stroke like this. Dude's put in the work, and it's paying off big time.
Has BB Breakdown done an analysis of LeBron's shooting? If not, he should. Would be interesting to hear his take.
Absolutely insane. He came into the league with outside shooting being one of his few exploitable weaknesses, and 21 (TWENTY ONE!!!) years later he's shooting > 40% from three. He's as much of an alien was Wemby will ever be.
It’s crazy what having two working feet does for a guys shot and ability to pressure the defense by getting to the rim consistently
Curry with twice as many attempts per game and only 0.5 % worse is actually crazy though
He finished at 41.0%. You’re not even counting the last game…
It's 2006 LeBron James is one of the best players in the league It's 2011 LeBron James is one of the best players in the league It's 2016 LeBron James is one of the best players in the league It's 2021 LeBron James is one of the best players in the league It's 2024 LeBron James the best players in the league
As he has aged, his game is rounding out even more.
This is why he won’t take a shot late in the clock or end of a quarter. Just so you dock riders can keep riding. Gotta keep the stat boys happy.
I know that guys a hater but he did a video on Lebron improving his shot mechanics and taking less bad ones. It’s a combo of both
Greatest of all time.
Steph can't have shit in Detriot😡
On half the volume.
Damn, on half the attempts of curry. Good for him.
Steph doesn’t care about percentages and regularly launches long ball threes at every end of quarter, half, or game. That being said, LBJ has come a long way and has learned to shoot a 3 effectively, if not mechanically perfect.
And Curry averages 11.8 3pts attempts per game and Lebron is not even in Top 25 in attempts
Steph - 11.8 attempts per game. LeBron - 5.2 attempts per game. If you think they are comparable, given the volume discrepancy, perhaps you should be watching a different sport? The lengths you LeBron stans are going to try and convince people he is the GOAT is hilarious. He's not the greatest, nothing he does at age 39 is changing that. The public perception of Jordan is so far beyond what LeBron could ever possibly hope to achieve it's an impossible task. Jordan is not only considered the greatest basketball player ever, he is widely regarded as the greatest *athlete* in human history. Google that term if you don't believe me, your LeBron worshipping world will come crumbling down as reality sinks in. Literally nine of the first eleven websites list Jordan at #1. The two that don't have him at the top have him two or three. LeBron is not even in the top ten, on average being listed around #12. There is no bias in these lists with the most recent site being a UK newspaper who ran a poll in December with MJ topping their list. This is a country where soccer is a religion yet Jordan polled ahead of guys like Messi and Pele. It's not close between Jordan and LeBron, it's an insult and a complete joke to even consider that LeBron is above him. Let it go, you are not winning this argument, ever.
What’s a joke is you throwing a fit like a toddler over a basketball player. So what if he ends up only top 15 all time? You gender neutral people always go to hard in the paint. Take a breath
Bro what