LeBron James recently made the headlines for unprecedented reasons. An awkward ball-handling drill of the 39-year-old raised eyebrows everywhere. It subsequently irked Eddie Gonzalez, Kevin Durants former podcast co-host, prompting him to mock the Los Angeles Lakers star using Kendrick Perkins as a reference.
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Soon after the clip became public from the Lakers’ official account on X (formerly Twitter), Gonzalez pulled James’ leg. Commanding the franchise’s media team to remove this post, he wrote, “Aye man delete this Kendrick Perkins a** video”.
Aye man delete this Kendrick Perkins ass video https://t.co/Hb9xiwNkGx
— Eddie Gonzalez (@bansky) July 8, 2024
His displeasure majorly circled James’ technique while performing this drill. After all, the 4x MVP’s motion as a dribbler lacked fluidity and speed. On top of this, his uncoordinated moves heavily unjustified his legacy as an NBA great.
As a result, Gonzalez jokingly drew parallels between him and Perkins, who went viral for these reasons a couple of years back. The latter once uploaded a clip of himself working on his dribbling on an open road. However, his moves also had nearly similar problems as James’, turning him into a laughing stock.
Undoubtedly, this latest clip did a disservice to the prowess of the 4x champion. Yet, this failed to surprise the seasoned NBA fans.
LeBron James has never been an elite ball-handler
Since entering the league as a small forward, James had initially focused on turning himself into a potent attacking threat. Over the years, however, he had to evolve his gameplay to run the backcourt. Even during those situations, the 20x All-Star had rarely displayed jaw-dropping ball-handling skills to amuse the viewers.
Despite this shortcoming, he has been effective and efficient in his endeavors. Much of this has been due to his ability to read the game situation. Additionally, his experience dominating the NBA for decades has facilitated his capability of shielding the ball in times of need.
The 2019/20 championship season was a prime example of this when James became the assist leader in the league with 684 assists. Averaging 10.21 assists per game, the Akron-born recorded only 261 turnovers, marking the lowest assist-to-turnover ratio in the NBA.
So, these slight digs at James’ ball-handling skills fail to take much away from his greatness. He remains one of the best facilitators of the game, stepping up to the occasion whenever called for.
