How can LeBron improve his mid-range shot?

[Run DLC]

I’ve always thought that he shot his mid-range jumpers way too flat. He doesn’t elevate high enough, that’s why he’s prone to getting his jumpers blocked as a result. Is it too late for him to develop an MJ/Kobe like mid-range game?

[Amare_1_Knicks]

His year 17 campaign is all but over(regular season-wise anyway), so I’ll wager that he’s never going to be that kind of player. Also, he doesn’t get blocked all that much in general, and when he does get blocked they seem to be at the rim/in traffic.

[LivingLegend]

Its not a staple of his but when games get tight--he does his backdown spinning fadeaway pretty well. The midrange just isnt apart of his game on a consistent basis because of his driving/finishing ability.

[Crizzle]

Its not a staple of his but when games get tight--he does his backdown spinning fadeaway pretty well. The midrange just isnt apart of his game on a consistent basis because of his driving/finishing ability.

i was just about to say. come play offs it will be an ode to kobe with those fade aways. But im sure he realizes him driving to the hoop and/or finding open shooters is a much more efficient game plan than settling for mids

[masgi]

I'd say practice

[Pennebaker]

Look at LeBron’s career high shooting percentages from these ranges and compare them to Kobe’s.

LeBron 3-10 FT: .554 (2013-14)
Kobe 3-10 FT: .556 (2013-14)

LeBron 10-16 FT: .481 (2011-12)
Kobe 10-16 FT: .519 (2010-11)

LeBron 16-3PT: .447 (2018-19)
Kobe 16-3PT: .429 (2009-10)

They’re comparable.

Bron even won a title with a midrange dagger in a Game 7 in the NBA Finals (he lit up the Kawhi all night long with his jumper in that game).



And today LeBron’s fadeaway is cash money.



In short, LeBron’s midrange is proven so this is not even remotely an issue.

[Jaqua92]

I’ve always thought that he shot his mid-range jumpers way too flat. He doesn’t elevate high enough, that’s why he’s prone to getting his jumpers blocked as a result. Is it too late for him to develop an MJ/Kobe like mid-range game?

Jordan was the GOAT mid range shooter. yes, it's too late. LeBron is such an explosive force that he does not need a mid range shot to be dominant. He evolved and developed his 3 point shot to where defenses need to respect it. Mid range? He isn't close to Kobe, nvm Jordan. And that's okay. He doesn't need to be.

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[Jaqua92]

Look at LeBron’s career high shooting percentages from these ranges and compare them to Kobe’s.

LeBron 3-10 FT: .554 (2013-14)
Kobe 3-10 FT: .556 (2013-14)

LeBron 10-16 FT: .481 (2011-12)
Kobe 10-16 FT: .519 (2010-11)

LeBron 16-3PT: .447 (2018-19)
Kobe 16-3PT: .429 (2009-10)

They’re comparable.

Bron even won a title with a midrange dagger in a Game 7 in the NBA Finals (he lit up the Kawhi all night long with his jumper in that game).



And today LeBron’s fadeaway is cash money.



In short, LeBron’s midrange is proven so this is not even remotely an issue.

Career high is a small sample from a larger set of data. LeBron overall isn't the mid range shooter Kobe was.

What would be more telling would be to find the data showing LeBron's improvement. That is what would be most impressive.

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[LivingLegend]

Its not a staple of his but when games get tight--he does his backdown spinning fadeaway pretty well. The midrange just isnt apart of his game on a consistent basis because of his driving/finishing ability.

i was just about to say. come play offs it will be an ode to kobe with those fade aways. But im sure he realizes him driving to the hoop and/or finding open shooters is a much more efficient game plan than settling for mids

Yeah but LeBron is a 'feel' type of player. Some games he dominates in certain areas more than others given whats clicking for him that night/day. In the playoffs against the Raptors in 2018 he was feeling it and just destroyed them with the fadeaway midrange.

You can tell with him when hes trusting his jumper. When he doesnt he drives to the hoop like a bull. When he trusts his jumper he just starts doing crazy spinning shots or long long 3s.

[Cavsfansince84]

Didn't you see him pretty much destroy the league from mid range during his 2018 playoff run(34ppg)? That one game against Toronto he hit almost nothing but mid range j's and put up like 42 with 15 assists. His mid range shot has never been great but its not bad and in the last 5-8 years its become better because he understands better how to use it and has more moves to get him better looks.

[Duke4life831]

Look at LeBron’s career high shooting percentages from these ranges and compare them to Kobe’s.

LeBron 3-10 FT: .554 (2013-14)
Kobe 3-10 FT: .556 (2013-14)

LeBron 10-16 FT: .481 (2011-12)
Kobe 10-16 FT: .519 (2010-11)

LeBron 16-3PT: .447 (2018-19)
Kobe 16-3PT: .429 (2009-10)

They’re comparable.

Bron even won a title with a midrange dagger in a Game 7 in the NBA Finals (he lit up the Kawhi all night long with his jumper in that game).



And today LeBron’s fadeaway is cash money.



In short, LeBron’s midrange is proven so this is not even remotely an issue.

Career high is a small sample from a larger set of data. LeBron overall isn't the mid range shooter Kobe was.

What would be more telling would be to find the data showing LeBron's improvement. That is what would be most impressive.

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2004-2012:
3-10 ft: 42%
10-16 ft: 35%
16-3pt: 38%

2013-2020:
3-10 ft: 41%
10-16 ft: 39%
16-3pt: 39%

Solid increase from the 10-16 ft range, pretty even the other two spots. Just a quick look at those percentages compared to the league average in a few of those seasons (too lazy to compare season by season), but it appears LeBron is pretty much right around league averages with those percentages from those distances. He appears to be pretty much the definition of an average mid range shooter for his career.

[Ellisere]

LeBron's jumpers are ugly for sure, I doubt he could change it this late and improve its percentage. LeBron is so multi-skilled that he likes to pick and choose which weapon to use in a particular game to confuse the defenders, so his overall impact doesn't seem to get affected as much. The problem is that it is extremely streaky, and that affects his confidence too, so in many late-game situations where he did not shoot enough jumpers earlier in the game, he either shot em at horrible percentage or became passive.

[loveandbeer]

In year 17? Lol

[Richfield]

The man is too strong, so I disagree that he needs to elevate higher.

The one thing that helps his mid range, being too strong, is when he fades away with it. Even as a life long LeBron watcher I was surprised in recent years' playoffs when he went to that, something we hadn't seen much of in the past, and it was going in from the moment he debuted it. He must have practiced it a lot before pulling it out more regularly as a secret weapon in the post season.

Unfortunately he doesn't do this much during the regular season. I'd love to see it every night. Maybe he thinks they'll figure out how to guard it if he goes to it all the time. I disagree though because it's an unguardable shot, and he has a full repertoire of counter moves. It was even unguardable for a guy who didn't have those counter moves, and made a career out of it as his token shot (James Edwards).

Here's it working well for LeBron in the playoffs against the Raps..

Watch on YouTube

The sickest one I've ever seen him do was also in playoffs, but not in that highlight reel. I think it was against the Warriors. He was pushing back so fast and putting such high arc on the ball, it was actually probably the best fadeaway I've ever seen.

If he does end up playing til his son comes up, I bet we see it more and more as his body wants to jump less and less. Kind of like we did with Jordan and the Wiz. Became a midrange specialist.

[trueballer7]

Even the 38% numbers are misleading. Most of the midrange shots he takes are uncontested and even then, he will more often than not pass on the shot even when nobody is near him. For most third option scorers on a team, being wide open is an automatic shot from the midrange for Lebron no.
Kobe was shooting 40% because he was taking double digit midrange shots every game, half of them, at least, very badly selected. Lebron shoots 5 times per game wide free and converts two of them at best. But a series of the most improbable events ocurring in 30 secs, geriatric Spurs would have won the 2013 Finals in 6 games vs the Miami super team daring Lebron to take midrange shots.
He isnt improving anything

[Cavsfansince84]

Even the 38% numbers are misleading. Most of the midrange shots he takes are uncontested and even then, he will more often than not pass on the shot even when nobody is near him. For most third option scorers on a team, being wide open is an automatic shot from the midrange for Lebron no.
Kobe was shooting 40% because he was taking double digit midrange shots every game, half of them, at least, very badly selected. Lebron shoots 5 times per game wide free and converts two of them at best. But a series of the most improbable events ocurring in 30 secs, geriatric Spurs would have won the 2013 Finals in 6 games vs the Miami super team daring Lebron to take midrange shots.
He isnt improving anything

Don't agree with that take at all. LeBron is always guarded. Most of his mid range shots are pull ups or out of the post.

[meekrab]

In short, LeBron’s midrange is proven so this is not even remotely an issue.

Proven to be roughly a 37% shot over his career, yes.

[lambchop]

Even the 38% numbers are misleading. Most of the midrange shots he takes are uncontested and even then, he will more often than not pass on the shot even when nobody is near him. For most third option scorers on a team, being wide open is an automatic shot from the midrange for Lebron no.
Kobe was shooting 40% because he was taking double digit midrange shots every game, half of them, at least, very badly selected. Lebron shoots 5 times per game wide free and converts two of them at best. But a series of the most improbable events ocurring in 30 secs, geriatric Spurs would have won the 2013 Finals in 6 games vs the Miami super team daring Lebron to take midrange shots.
He isnt improving anything

Don't agree with that take at all. LeBron is always guarded. Most of his mid range shots are pull ups or out of the post.

Just using common sense here: if lebron is in the midrange with "no one near him" that means all he has to do is take two steps and he will have a layup. No one will leave him unguarded in the midrange.

That said, his midrange never be deadly. His midrange is ok, it's the shot teams want him taking.

[LuDux1]

I'd say practice

How silly is that?

[skones]

Look at LeBron’s career high shooting percentages from these ranges and compare them to Kobe’s.

LeBron 3-10 FT: .554 (2013-14)
Kobe 3-10 FT: .556 (2013-14)

LeBron 10-16 FT: .481 (2011-12)
Kobe 10-16 FT: .519 (2010-11)

LeBron 16-3PT: .447 (2018-19)
Kobe 16-3PT: .429 (2009-10)

They’re comparable.

Kobe, through his career, took 45% of his attempts from the midrange. Lebron for his career took 29.9% of his attempts from that range.

They aren't comparable. Volume matters.

That's before you get into the career averages which are ACTUALLY relevant:
10-16
Kobe: 43.9%
Lebron: 36.8%

16-3
Kobe: 40.2%
Lebron: 35.9%

Again, not comparable.