The play of LeBron James has long been one of the most compelling aspects of the NBA, but lately the experience of watching the world’s best basketball player has taken on an entirely new significance. Outrageously efficient performance has become so predictable for James that every appearance is now appointment viewing.
By now, most NBA fans have caught wind of James’ most recent exploits: a five-game stretch in which he topped 30 points on every occasion, anchored five consecutive Miami victories and posted an absurd 71.4 field goal percentage. Trim away some of James’ misses at the end of the first game in that stretch, and he’s made 49 of his last 65 shots (75.4 percent), which may be the closest thing to shooting perfection that we’re likely to see from a player with such a large role.
For those of us who have had the pleasure of watching James so freely ply his trade, this recent stretch has been a breathtaking experience. Yet for those players unlucky enough to line up opposite James, his performance must be suffocating. Every touch brings its own terrifying potential, as James approaches his on-court goals with an authoritative certainty. He wants to get to the hoop off the dribble for an easy score, and so he does — without much concern at all for defenses, physical limitations or other factors that inevitably steer the play of basketball mortals. Every trip down the floor serves as a reminder that LeBron James simply cannot be stopped, and when he’s executing at this high a level, I’m frankly not even sure he can be slowed.
We’ve waited an entire decade for James to stop growing as a player, but during this season he has been more effective and controlled than at any point previously. Much of that is a tribute to James’ nearly flawless offensive judgment, as he consistently wards off a slew of inferior options in orchestrating the Heat’s offense to maximum effect. But not all of his staggering efficiency can be traced to restraint. What we’re seeing in Miami is a perfect spiral of smart team basketball and staggering individual brilliance, the combination of which has yielded an unparalleled season. In NBA history, the list of players to average 27 points and 6.9 assists and post a 63.3 true shooting percentage (which factors in two-pointers, three-pointers and free throws) for a season is as follows:
If we loosen the assists requirement to focus solely on scoring output and shooting efficiency, Charles Barkley, Adrian Dantley and Kevin Durant (who’s having an incredible season in his own right) sneak in to qualify as well. That means that no playmaker has ever had a scoring season this potent and no premier scorer has ever had a campaign with such productive passing.
That combination of skills is nothing new for James, who was trumpeted as something of a Jordan-Magic amalgam from Day 1. But there’s an obvious distinction to be made between being a can’t-miss prospect and a superstar player who apparently can’t miss. We’ve seen plenty of elite scorers and top-notch playmakers, but James deftly walks that line in a way that no player ever has before, and has continued to build out his game in a way that takes full advantage of his prodigious skill set.
By refusing to settle for inefficient offense, James puts defenders in an impossible situation. The kinds of maneuvers that typically goad superstars into hoisting mid-range jumpers (playing off them, attacking a ball-dominant hand, etc.) don’t work well with James, as every sliver of open space surrendered to him just gives him more room to gain speed and analyze angles. Watch how James exploits the bit of space that Metta World Peace is hoping to use as a cushion against him:
But at the same time, the opposite strategy — crowding James on the perimeter in order to make him uncomfortable off the dribble — can yield similarly disastrous results. Watch here as Caron Butler attempts to deny James his immediate space:
Still, the last thing a defender should want to give James is a full field of vision, if only because he sees the complete game with an impossible clarity. The passing angles are accounted for. The driving lanes are surveyed. Every possibility is considered in the briefest of moments, all while opponents grow increasingly nervous with every second that James holds the ball — and their fate — in his hands.
And frankly, they should be a bit spooked. James is making 75.6 percent of his attempts at the rim this season, he’s hitting a career-high rate on his runners and floaters and he has the benefit of working with teammates who understand his tendencies and how to best complement him. Lineup tweaks and an increasing familiarity have given the Heat’s offense an astounding harmony, with teammates surrounding James’ creative efforts with the kind of choreography usually reserved for a scripted play:
Because of that synchronized movement and James’ abilities, the Heat often breathe life into what could otherwise be a rather blunt offensive maneuver. In the face of that limitless possibility, it’s LeBron’s discipline that really sets him apart. He can do it all, but why settle for anything less than the optimal result on any given possession?
As dominant as James is with the ball, he never seems to get quite enough credit for all he does to make himself available away from it. High-usage ball handlers have a bad tendency of running out to the perimeter in an effort to command control of a possession, but James trusts his teammates and understands the game well enough to find space within a more natural flow. Rather than make a jagged cut to the top of the floor, James seals his man in the post, curls to create an opportunity to catch the ball at a point of advantage and screens willingly. Few stars more fully understand the value of all that comes before the catch, and it’s through that mentality that Miami’s ad-libbed sequences still tend to create quality shots.
Beyond that, James has undergone an incredible transformation as a perimeter-shooting threat, primarily by capitalizing more consistently on his spot-up tries. According to Synergy Sports Technology, James rates as the second-best spot-up player in the league in points scored per play. That’s largely due to the unbelievable 53.3 percent mark James has posted on spot-up three-pointers, up from 33.9 percent shooting last season. He hasn’t changed his shooting form significantly, but the repetition of attempting squared-up long-range attempts has apparently triggered James’ evolution into a dependable three-point shooter.
James looms over most every Heat possession. When he’s not threatening defenses off the dribble, he’s fighting for position or spacing the floor, setting up a checkmate three moves in advance. His fantastic skill set has broadened to the point where he’s a completely continuous threat, capable of projecting his power and influence throughout Miami’s every offensive action. In fact, I’d guess it’s harrowing in its own way for opponents to bear witness to LeBron’s almost casual dominance. He doesn’t demand the ball. He doesn’t force the action. He just peers into the game itself and sees all of basketball’s doors open to him.
