LeBron James is the most versatile player in NBA history. The Los Angeles Lakers version of James has evolved into someone who now doesn’t need to hold onto the ball to be an effective superstar. ‘The King’, during this 2023 Playoff run of theirs, has relinquished his on-ball duties to the rest of his perimeter players and the purple and gold are rolling nonetheless, regardless of how aggressive James has been on the offensive end of the floor.
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Guys like Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, and Dennis Schroeder have stepped up their decision-making skills along with the ball handling to effectively dictate a half-court offensive set. One thing that should be noted is that LeBron still gets his hands on the ball on most possessions. He shifts players around on the court for favorable match-ups for his guards and passes the ball to them to see what they will do.
As we’ve seen in the 7 games that the Lakers have played, those 3 guards have been great in various aspects, helping relieve pressure off James.
Draymond Green On LeBron James and his new role on offense
Draymond Green has made it a regular occurrence to take to his podcast after each game the Golden State Warriors play this postseason and react to it. Following the 117-112 loss to the Lakers in Game 1, Green expressed his surprise over how passive LeBron James has been this year.
“LeBron is playing a totally different style. Totally different game than we’ve ever seen him play and it’s interesting to figure it out. You’re not used to seeing LeBron off the the so much. It’s not your typical LeBron running the show which is a bit weird,” said Green on his podcast.
The Lakers have successfully stolen home court advantage from the defending champions and now all they have to do is win every single game at Crypto.com arena to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
Rachel Nichols wants Anthony Davis to be the Lakers’ number one option
Rachel Nichols, like many analysts, wants Anthony Davis to take the charge and become the best option for the Los Angeles Lakers on both ends of the floor. LeBron James has been the best player on the floor for any team he’s been on for 20 years.
The 38 year old is at the point in his career where he cannot consistently be the number one option on the offensive end of the floor. Nichols took to social media to express her take on why AD needs to be the best player for the Lakers. Given that he dropped 30 points and grabbed 23 rebounds to go along with 4 blocks in Game 1, it’s safe to say that he’s living up to expectations.
