Father Time is still undefeated, but LeBron James has him hanging on by a thread.
When the 2023-24 NBA season kicks off in Denver, James is already playing at a higher level than any player in league history 20 years into his career. But James has taken that distinction to another level this season.
First, he averaged more points per game (26.4 points per game) than the other five players who played 21 seasons combined (24.0 points). But the most impressive thing about this 21st season is that James, who has established unprecedented levels of efficiency and longevity during his career at the GOAT level, has somehow become even more efficient in 2023-24.
In these 13 games, James’ field goal percentage (58.6%), two-point field goal percentage (68.0%), effective field goal percentage (65.2%) and true shooting percentage (67.1%) all hit career highs. More specifically, according to Cleaning the Glass, he posted career-high shooting percentages on shots at the rim (82 percent), mid- to long-range jumpers (47 percent) and non-corner 3-pointers (40 percent). He shot 39.7 percent from three-point range, nearly matching his career-high 40.6 percent mark in 2012-13.
How did James produce the best efficiency of his career 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 believe in it.”
James is playing at an MVP level for the emerging Lakers, who have won five of their past six games in large part because of his performance. Without their nightly heroics, the Lakers’ slow start could have been disastrous. On the contrary, the Lakers are 8-6 and trending upward.
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By the most advanced metrics, James remains elite. He ranks fifth in the NBA in projected plus-minus (EPM), fifth in projected wins (EW), fourth in value off the bench (VORP), and fourth in plus-minus (BPM). Ranked sixth in Player Efficiency Rating (PER) and eighth in winning shares and ranked 13th. He is currently expected to be selected, if not the first team, then at least the All-NBA second team forward. He’s still easily a top-10 player, which is an incredible feat.
James showed his cape in a crucial moment when the deficit was reduced to within five points in the final five minutes of the game. Among the 54 players who have taken at least 10 clutch shots, he ranks second in the league in clutch points (38 points), first in clutch field goal percentage (14 points), and third in clutch field goal percentage ( 70.0%). In the seven clutch games in which James has played, the Lakers have a record of 5 wins and 2 losses.
Most recently, last Friday, James scored a then-season-high 35 points in the fourth quarter to help the Portland Trail Blazers defeat the Portland Trail Blazers in a hostile in-season tournament. Two days later, he scored a season-high 37 points against Dillon Brooks and the Rockets, scored 23 points in the second half, and drove past Brooks for a 3-pointer and a free throw to give the team the go-ahead lead with 1.9 seconds left. . Rockets defenders in the paint.
“He was outstanding,” head coach Davon Hamm said of his performance with James. Houston. “We’ve all known and loved LeBron these 21 years.”
However, James’s style of play is different from usual. As the Lakers turn the keys to their offense more over to D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reeves, James becomes more of a dangerous off-ball threat who can exploit his basketball in space IQ, strength and athleticism. James is creating fewer offenses himself than ever before. According to Basktball-Reference.com, the percentage of his assisted two-pointers (48.0%) and three-pointers (75.9%) are both career highs.
His usage rate has also increased slightly in a few noteworthy areas: His usage rate has increased off screens (up from 1.9% last season to 3.6% this season), as a roll ball in the pick-and-roll According to NBA.com player tracking data, field goal percentage (up from 3.4% last season to 6.2% this season) and spot-up shooting (up from 9.5% last season) 11.4% of the season) statistics.
While most of these percentages are minor increases, they create a different offense for James.
No Laker will benefit more from the Lakers’ increased spacing than James — at least if their new five-and-out offense is functioning properly. Los Angeles gradually used him in more creative ways, taking advantage of his ability to read his defender, teammates and other defenders with his blazing speed.
Case in point: Reeves passes the ball to Jaxon Hayes, then cuts to set a screen for James, who immediately catches Hayes’ dribbler handoff. James took the early lead when he drove past Sacramento Kings big man Domantas Sabonis and drew a shooting foul.
In a variation of this similar move, Russell brings the ball up the court while Anthony Davis sets a screen for James to pass to the other side of the arc. Russell bounced the pass to Davis, then set a screen for James, who took the handoff from Davis, faked as guard David Roddy recovered, and dribbled to the rim . (Davis’ timely roll did help, as it dragged his defender, Bismack Biyombo, off the field.)
At times, the Lakers will be more direct with James going downhill off screens. This time, Reeves dribbled the ball on the right side of the court and Christian Wood screened James on the other side, allowing him to pass out, cut or curl, depending on how the defender reacted to the screen. In this case, James took a wider offense, using one dribble and his shoulder to clear Orlando Magic big man Gorga Bitadze’s finger roll before accelerating to the basket.
“He’s playing really well right now,” Davis said Sunday. “His shots are falling. He attacks the paint, makes the right reads and does that on the defensive end. “He does it all for us and our job is to compliment him and help him finish the shot or run the offense. “
According to Clean the Glass, 47% of James’ shot attempts this season have come from the rim, his highest percentage from that distance since 2018-19 (his first season in Los Angeles). That includes dunking more — or at least attempting to dunk — with 7.3 percent of his field goal attempts being dunks, his highest rate since the 2018-19 season (8.1 percent).
“(My teammates) have been kidding me about taking too many layups when I’m open,” James said.
But James is just as lethal from beyond the arc, which is an important development for the Lakers’ crunch-time and playoff offense.
It’s a more deceptive combination: Russell and Davis engage in a quick two-man game to draw the Blazers’ attention away from James, who reels in the arc after a Davis screener A three-pointer from the top position. James’ defender, Jerami Grant, was one step behind and into coverage. boom.
During the James Davis era, opposing defenses historically pressed their off-ball defenders into the paint against the Lakers. When the Lakers run pick-and-rolls with Russell or Reeves as the ball handler, they often put James on the other side, and one pass later, he’s ready to catch and shoot, catch or break, or pump fake. .
It’s easy for James, who shot 44.4 percent from three on catch-and-shooters.
This season was supposed to be a time for James to take a step back and cede more offensive power to Davis, Reeves and Russell. Although James’ usage rate has declined (from 33.3% last season to 30.2% this season), the Lakers are as dependent on James as ever. The team scores 23.8 points more per 100 possessions with him on the floor than with him on the bench, which is a huge number. The team is significantly worse without him on both sides of the ball, which means Los Angeles still needs to figure out how to survive without him on the floor.
“It doesn’t even feel like he’s 38 years old,” Davis said.
James doesn’t feel like he’s 38 because of his performance, but he’s actually five weeks away from turning 39. He’s been sidelined by serious injuries in four of his five seasons in Los Angeles, and his long-term health remains on the line. Crucial to the Lakers’ championship dreams.
The Lakers planned to limit James’ playing time to approximately 28 to 30 minutes per game, a plan that continued throughout the game. James’ stellar play and the Lakers’ early-season struggles resulted in him playing more than 30 minutes in 10 of 13 games. Going forward, the Lakers will need to strategically find time to rest James — whether that’s reduced minutes or fewer games — just like they did when they put James on the floor on Nov. 12. They defeated the Trail Blazers 116-110.
“The way he takes care of himself on every level, it takes some of the stress and worry away,” Ham said before that game. “The biggest thing is he’s smart with his stretches. The total minutes are going to depend on the nature of the game. The way we play him, the increments we play him, that’s something you have to pay attention to. And what you do on non-game days. Things to do. … It helps us a lot — when he can get on the same page with us on that.”
To put things in perspective, the Lakers haven’t matched up to their 8-6 record. As of Tuesday morning, they ranked just 22nd in net rating, a mark more indicative of them being a low-end play-in or lottery team than a contender. They struggled shooting the ball, matching their opponents’ energy in the first quarter, taking care of the ball and protecting the defensive rebounds. The rotation is unstable. The key parts remain.
But more often than not, it doesn’t matter because the Lakers have James on their side, the greatest player of his generation — and perhaps the greatest player of all time.
Whether this period is simply a period of hot shooting, a newfound efficiency due to offensive spacing, another level of mastery or some combination of the three, James continues to inexplicably defy the aging process and carry the Lakers under his vast Shoulders, showing no signs of slowing down as he approaches age 39.
“Just trying to push the envelope,” James said. “Let’s see how far I can take this thing. It’s me versus ‘Time Father.’ “
(Above: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)