LeBron James was the de facto point guard of the Lakers last season. Paul Pierce questions why he isn’t regarded as the best point guard in the game.
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Pierce’s hometown Lakers cantered to a win in the playoffs last season. This came in the wake of James averaging 10.2 assists per game and winning the assists title for the first time in his career. This past season is emblematic of James’ excellence as a playmaker.
The 35-year-old was 3 points away from becoming the first player in NBA history to lead all players in total points, rebounds and assists in one playoffs. Such was James’ dominance that he also notched up the best 2-point percentage of his career in the playoffs.
The NBA’s GM survey, however, did not reflect this. He wasn’t considered a point guard by most GMs, leading to him being only ranked 5th among the best playmakers.
Paul Pierce questions NBA GMs who named LeBron James the 4th best point guard
A vocal critic of James usually, Pierce actually sprung to the defense of the Akron-born legend. In his appearance on ‘The Jump’, Pierce gave his sound logic as to why James should have been named the best point guard in the league.
“Originally I said Luka Doncic. But if LeBron is the best player, and he plays point guard, how is he not the best point guard in the league? He led the league in assists. He’s clearly the best point guard in the league.”
Source: @talkbasket Paul Pierce says LeBron James is the best point guard in NBA https://t.co/O5FF3DSZGf
— BetNBA.eu (@BetNBAeu) December 19, 2020
The main argument against this could be that James is not a true point guard. A true point guard usually engages in some amount of pick-and-pop actions. This breed is also expected to be a good shooter. James isn’t famed for either of these attributes, so he gets the short end of the stick.
