(LOCK THREAD) The LeBron James - 22-23 NBA Season Thread -NBA's All-Time Scoring Leader!

[LukaTheGOAT]

I miss last year's season already...

Just praying for good health this year.

[LesGrossman]

That is one way to look at it. Ultimately their record is pretty simple, they do not score as much as their opponents. Also, as i pointed out, i'm not questioning that they are okay on D (you can elect to call it differently) as a group. I'm pointing out that LeBron is, posession by posession, not contributing as can be expected by their leader, which has an impact on the people who play alongside, on both ends (even if he is the most hated guy on this board, i think that KD is leading by example much better in terms of D).]

I can certainly agree that Lebron is not contributing a ton on defense at this stage in his career.

I'll ask this way: If i would show you that for one game, posession for posession, he is not doing what coaches consider proper man to man and help defense, and they still end up with excellent defensive numbers by the metrics you quote, what would be a possible explanation in your opinion? Reality doesnt really happen, or maybe the numbers project something different than the individual performance of one player, or do you have another interpretation?

The obvious answer here is one with which we both agree; he is not responsible for driving the team's defense. That isn't a point of contention and never has been.

ok, fair enough.

[letskissbro]

For anyone who doubted my rants last season about how LeBron hate primarily stems from racism:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/yhia02/yahoo_lebron_james_said_elon_musk_needs_to/?sort=new

[AEnigma]

Reddit is basically a diet 4Chan at this point, but there may be something to the general populace disliking Lebron for being “uppity” in a way many of his more popular predecessors were not.

[McBubbles]

For anyone who doubted my rants last season about how LeBron hate primarily stems from racism:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/yhia02/yahoo_lebron_james_said_elon_musk_needs_to/?sort=new

It's depressing to see that the response is damn near exactly the same as what it was when I was frequenting Reddit in 2018.

"Sure, we'll address this anti-black racism when you speak out on *insert literally anything else*. Not prioritising all issues equally obviously makes LeBron a hypocrite "

Someone was talking about how disappointed they are that LeBron doesn't live up to MLK what in the holy deflection. Imagine a Jewish person complaining about the rise in anti-Semitism and someone going "You're not as virtuous as Einstein therefore your grievance is invalid, hypocrite "

[tsherkin]

ok, fair enough.

I will say this, though. Lebron's been quite poor as far as his offensive efficiency goes to date in the season. It's way, way early, and I expect things to improve some when his 3pt shot normalizes, but he's been very inefficient so far. This would be his second straight season, if he maintains, at 8+ 3PA/g, after never taking more than 6.3 in a season. He's basically never been an elite 3pt shooter outside of 2013, so it's something of a problem, particularly since he is ALSO not an elite FT shooter, and his FTr has been dropping off over the past few seasons. To date over these first few games, he's posting the worst FTr of his career, worse still than the .275 he managed last season, which is a problem. Lebron is generally a 58% ish TS kind of guy, which has historically been pretty good, but is far less mighty these days. He also hasn't been able to hit a jumper past 10 feet, like the rest of his team, which will surely normalize.

But he's definitely not playing at like a top 5 level on offense at the moment. The passing game's still there, his ability to finish in the post and right at the basket, definitely intact. He LOOKS like he has plenty of mobility remaining, but he's been as off as the rest of his team. It's 5 games, so I'm not really worrying about it just yet, but yeah, he's certainly not 2009 Lebron Superman'g his team to the playoffs.

[HeartBreakKid]

Coincidentally I was thinking about how anecdotally I've never met a black person who actively dislikes Lebron James the other week.

[LesGrossman]

ok, fair enough.

I will say this, though. Lebron's been quite poor as far as his offensive efficiency goes to date in the season. It's way, way early, and I expect things to improve some when his 3pt shot normalizes, but he's been very inefficient so far. This would be his second straight season, if he maintains, at 8+ 3PA/g, after never taking more than 6.3 in a season. He's basically never been an elite 3pt shooter outside of 2013, so it's something of a problem, particularly since he is ALSO not an elite FT shooter, and his FTr has been dropping off over the past few seasons. To date over these first few games, he's posting the worst FTr of his career, worse still than the .275 he managed last season, which is a problem. Lebron is generally a 58% ish TS kind of guy, which has historically been pretty good, but is far less mighty these days. He also hasn't been able to hit a jumper past 10 feet, like the rest of his team, which will surely normalize.

But he's definitely not playing at like a top 5 level on offense at the moment. The passing game's still there, his ability to finish in the post and right at the basket, definitely intact. He LOOKS like he has plenty of mobility remaining, but he's been as off as the rest of his team. It's 5 games, so I'm not really worrying about it just yet, but yeah, he's certainly not 2009 Lebron Superman'g his team to the playoffs.

I know his offense is in the focus of criticism right now but i dont feel like the lakers have many other options to be honest. As critical as i am of him usually, it doesnt feel like he is hurting them so badly on that end because everyone else seems to be shooting even worse. I think there are aspects that cannot be measured by metrics though, like the influence if your leader is slacking, finger pointing or hanging his head in times of struggle. I dont play computer games and so i ont know wether this is something built in NBA 2k already but the people around him are not machines. Any chance they might have, as miniscule as it may be, will vanish if he isnt leading them by example, by being accountable on both ends for his effort, before pointing fingers at others. I think thats why people still liked playing with Kobe. He terrorized his team mates in practice and most of the time he considered himself the best option to shoot, but i cannot think of any game where he would not give the same fierce effort on D as well. Only then would he scream at any team mate not running back.

As for your observations on offense, i thought that he looked pretty unstoppable when he played off the ball, cut/slashed and Russ looked for the pass for a stretch vs. the Wolves. Maybe something they should explore more.

[letskissbro]

Coincidentally I was thinking about how anecdotally I've never met a black person who actively dislikes Lebron James the other week.

They exist but they're all 40-60 years old and big 90s bball fans. My dad is one

I'm fine with irrational sports hate, that's normal. But you can tell certain guys have other motives when they constantly go at LeBron's character and try to portray him as a real life villain. Usually they're discrete about it but the people under that post are going full mask off and there are a lot of them

[thebigbird]

Jeanie and Rob are such cowards lol. They know they completely ranked the franchise and they’re too afraid of the boos to face the fans.

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=OzeGabMZuyXs6EUi0ndz7Q

[mysticOscar]

For anyone who doubted my rants last season about how LeBron hate primarily stems from racism:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/yhia02/yahoo_lebron_james_said_elon_musk_needs_to/?sort=new

This would make sense if every Blackman in NBA is hated as much as him.

Why jump to racism when there is other logical reason?

Like being the best at the sport for over a decade? Being compared to MJ as GOAT? Jumping from team to team and creating super teams?

Claiming everything that happens in the world is because of racism just doesn't help anything

MJ was beloved in 80s, 90s and the world was more racist back then.

Just think for a second before u post anything

[tsherkin]

I know his offense is in the focus of criticism right now but i dont feel like the lakers have many other options to be honest.

They don't. Westbrook's a clown and Anthony Davis isn't a creator, he does his best work playing off others. Lebron is clearly providing value. Unfortunately at the moment, he's providing 01 Iverson-type value with his scoring, he's just leaning harder on his playmaking as his primary tool. I am content to wait and see how things play out as he normalizes over a larger sample before rendering any kind of real judgement.

I think thats why people still liked playing with Kobe. He terrorized his team mates in practice and most of the time he considered himself the best option to shoot, but i cannot think of any game where he would not give the same fierce effort on D as well. Only then would he scream at any team mate not running back.

I can think of many games over the final several seasons where he was slacking, but now we're just comparing anecdotes, I guess. Your point is well made, of course, that if Lebron is visibly slacking on one end, that's eventually going to be an issue... but the counterpoint is that it doesn't really matter when everyone else is worthless slop at the moment. And if he normalizes his shooting and the rest of the team catches up offensively, it won't matter as much.

As for your observations on offense, i thought that he looked pretty unstoppable when he played off the ball, cut/slashed and Russ looked for the pass for a stretch vs. the Wolves. Maybe something they should explore more.

Gotta be worth it for Russ to have the ball. Russ is about as bad as it gets as a scoring threat right now, which limits his value as a passer when he's on the floor. Using Lebron off-ball is still a good idea, but you can't have Westbrook just giving up possessions to the other team. He needs to be moved, and swiftly.

[nzahir]

Wtf is Lebron doing right now?

Should take a trip to Miami...

[toodles23]

Lebron's blown three pretty easy layups in this game already. The Lakers terrible spacing isn't helping matters but there are certainly signs that this might be the year he really falls off.

[yoyoboy]

People in here got mad at me for saying LeBron was a lower-level All Star at this point before the season started. What do you think now?

He's almost 38 so still impressive regardless.

[Fadeaway_J]

Westbrook's lack of touch as a finisher is kind of amazing. He just fires the ball at the backboard and hopes for the best.

[HeartBreakKid]

People in here got mad at me for saying LeBron was a lower-level All Star at this point before the season started. What do you think now?

He's almost 38 so still impressive regardless.

He wasn't a lower level all-star last season. As for now, it's October lol.

A bit early to be calling the swan song for Lebron, he's not going to be a scrub for a long time.

[thebigbird]

People in here got mad at me for saying LeBron was a lower-level All Star at this point before the season started. What do you think now?

He's almost 38 so still impressive regardless.

I think it’s the 6th game of the season with possibly the worst shooting team in modern basketball.

[yoyoboy]

People in here got mad at me for saying LeBron was a lower-level All Star at this point before the season started. What do you think now?

He's almost 38 so still impressive regardless.

He wasn't a lower level all-star last season. As for now, it's October lol.

A bit early to be calling the swan song for Lebron, he's not going to be a scrub for a long time.

For one, a year makes a big difference in your late 30s. Second, I already explained it in a lengthier post, but impact wise, he definitely was. His numbers looked good, but that's because half the time he was playing center where he's most effective offensively at this point in his career. Problem is LeBron at center is basically the worst defender in the league. When LeBron isn't playing center, he's probably solidly average on defense, but his offense isn't up there with the elite offensive players who can truly put pressure on a defense consistently and tend to also have more off-ball shooting value than LeBron.

[AEnigma]

For anyone who doubted my rants last season about how LeBron hate primarily stems from racism:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/yhia02/yahoo_lebron_james_said_elon_musk_needs_to/?sort=new

This would make sense if every Blackman in NBA is hated as much as him.

Why jump to racism when there is other logical reason?

Like being the best at the sport for over a decade? Being compared to MJ as GOAT? Jumping from team to team and creating super teams?

Claiming everything that happens in the world is because of racism just doesn't help anything

MJ was beloved in 80s, 90s and the world was more racist back then.

Just think for a second before u post anything

Yes, famously outspoken Michael Jordan.

I wonder, which group do you feel was more beloved by white NBA audiences at large? Magic Johnson and Wilt Chamberlain, or Kareem and Bill Russell? Who was preferred by those demographics, the racially demure and magnanimous Wes Unseld and Willis Reed, or the more confrontational or “standoffish” Earl Monroe, Elvin Hayes, and Walt Frazier? And that is without looking at the downright hostile treatment of Warren Jabali and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, who went too far beyond the bar of… pointing out obvious systemic racial inequities.

You could be black and beloved among those audiences, but only so far as you never challenge dominant positions. Lebron is hardly a revolutionary, but he is willing to take positions unpopular with white audiences more than Jordan ever cared to. Even something as basic as acknowledging the challenges of growing up in a single-parent household can sometimes be too much and garner those ever so funny father figure attacks… Or in this case, “fight against racists using the n-word.”