Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is one of the greatest basketball players ever, but many will stop short of calling him the GOAT. Michael Jordan holds that title in the eyes of most, and that is something that will probably never change.
One of the primary reasons for Jordan’s stranglehold on the top spot is that he went 6-0 in the NBA Finals with six Finals MVPs. Meanwhile, James has gone just 4-6 in the finals and has developed a reputation for missing big shots when they count the most.
Well, this stat won’t do much to deter LeBron’s doubters.
You ready for this? James has missed 16 straight three-pointers that could either win or tie the game.
James is not known as a three-point shooter, but that is an absolutely horrendous stat no matter how you spin it.
On the flip side, perhaps this should grant James some more leeway from people who criticize him for passing up on the last shot. He isn’t a great perimeter shooter, and much of the time, buzzer-beating field-goal attempts are typically jumpers, an area in which James has always been inconsistent.
The 39-year-old averaged 25.7 points, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds over 35.3 minutes per game last season on 54.0/41.0/75.0 shooting splits. He did a terrific job from beyond the arc last year, but he is a career 34.8 percent shooter from deep.
As a matter of fact, the 2023-24 campaign represented only the second time in James’ career that he shot 40 percent or better from long range, with the only other instance coming with the Miami Heat back in 2012-13, which represented LeBron’s last MVP campaign.
We’ll see if LeBron James can lead the Lakers on one more championship run this season. It’s going to be difficult in the rugged Western Conference.
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