The NBA regular season has entered mid-to-late December, and the Lakers are currently in the middle and lower reaches of the West, and there is still hope to impact the playoff qualifications, but with the injury of thick eyebrows, can James, who led the team alone, help the Lakers achieve this minimum goal?
Early in LeBron James' career, it was often said that he could lead almost any supporting actor to 50 victories.
Moreover, the data supports this assertion.
After all, Mo Williams was his best teammate and he was able to lead the team to 66 game wins. When he reached the Finals, Larry Hughes was his teammate with the highest points around him. Had it not been for JR Smith's brains, he might have won an away Finals victory against the greatest team of all time (the Warriors), with only one teammate (Kevin Love) scoring a double. LeBron's ability to lead a weak team against the tide has been certified.
1. James is forced to return to the core responsibility
But James has essentially ceded his centrality to his super teammates this season. When the Lakers started with a 2-10 run, Anthony Davis led the Lakers back on the rise and approaching the playoff qualification line. So far this season, he's outdone James across the board, both in rebounds and blocks, and he's significantly improved in shooting efficiency. The Lakers scored 11 more points per 100 rounds with Davis on the floor than without Davis, and the thick eyebrows finally took over the torch from James to drive the team's efficiency.
A net efficiency value of 11 points indicates that the core of the team has changed. It's no longer James-centric offense, the game is now done by Anthony Davis. At least it looks like you. However, Davis is expected to miss at least a month with a right foot injury. His injury history suggests that the comeback may have been longer.
James, suddenly, returned to his former position.
2. James is old and difficult to return to his peak form
That could go wrong for a simple reason: James is 37 years old, and this is his 20th NBA season. He's had as many injuries as Davis has had in the last few years. He intentionally handed over control of the Lakers to his teammates. It's unclear whether James will return to the kind of power he showed at his peak. But the data suggests that he can't do it now.
Looking at any metric that measures player creation of points, James is down dramatically. In the Lakers' 2020 championship game, he averaged nearly seven points per game in blocks, and this season he dropped to four points. During that time, he conceded an average of one point per game while his opponents were in the bag. He has been reducing his strong offense at the basket and opting more for passing transitions, and James used to rank second in the NBA in fast-break points, but this season his fast-break points per game have dropped from about 14 points in 2020 to less than 8 points. His ability to create strengths is getting weaker, and that is gradually affecting his teammates. He averaged 6.3 assists per game, which is relatively low compared to the career average of 7.3.
3. James has a hard time driving a group of pig teammates
Of course, James is still one of the best players in the NBA, and he is still using his individual abilities to compensate for the decline in statistics due to age. He made more three-pointers. He intercepts opponents and scores more. He took on more responsibility in the block demolition. It's worth it for a healthy Lakers to do all of this. Healthy players have become a luxury for the Lakers. With Davis leaving, the Lakers are averaging nearly 70 touches per game and need to adjust, and James will definitely bear the brunt of the arrangement--。
After all, this lineup is the epitome of every "LeBron James can do well in any lineup." Make up for the impact of Davis' absence. The biggest entanglement is to see how the minimum wage players perform. The Lakers have nine players, of which Thomas Bryant, Damian Jones and Winn Gabriel can all serve as Davis' backup. Key defenders Austin Reeves and Dennis Schroder are also available, and while Lonnie Walker IV is an upper-middle-level player, he is hardly a favorite before landing in Los Angeles. Westbrook may be a former MVP, but there's only so much he can do off the bench.
All of this points to James. The Lakers gave him a roster of flawed players, and they won't do much to improve until he proves to them he's worth it. In theory, this is a wise approach. Even if James and Davis are healthy, the Lakers are still hesitant to use first-round draft picks to trade for reinforcements, not to mention that now that Davis is injured, the Lakers will not mention the future this season.
4. James needs to qualify for the playoffs under pressure
The Lakers are already 12-16 and there's no room to lose anymore. The realities of the post-Davis era will force them to suffer even more. If the Lakers are too far behind in the standings, now is the general manager going to give up winning. If the Lakers have a winning percentage of less than 50% in February, Davis' health will not matter.
The current crisis makes it incumbent on James not only to save his own season, but also to save Davis' season. It's a burden that the veteran shouldn't have to bear in his 20th season, but it's almost an acceptable burden by LeBron's standards. He doesn't need to lead a bad team to 50 wins. He just needs to help the Lakers retain their qualification for the playoffs and try to keep that fit long enough for his best teammates to be back on the court healthy. And if he can't do it anymore? In any case, the season ended early.