We can talk at length about the game of LeBron James, some aspects are often overlooked. One of them concerns in particular the capacity of the quadruple champion to delegate, a subject that an analyst has recently addressed. Explanations.
And LeBron James is still evolving at a staggering level, it is clear that its stats have dropped in 2021-22. Not so much in terms of scoring, where he stands at 26 points on average, as in other areas, especially in passing. The Laker has only been running at 5 assists per game since the resumption, a far cry from the 10.2 offerings he made every evening in 2019-20. Even its rebound numbers have declined (6.3 versus 7.7 last year).
Would he be passing the torch to his teammates, he who is approaching his 37 years? According to JA Adande, you shouldn’t count too much on this. The journalist ofESPN spoke at length about the King’s case, during an appearance on Bill Simmons’ podcast. For him, it is just impossible for the winger to delegate so much in terms of responsibilities. Adande is based there on what could be observed during the last seasons:
LeBron ready to let go of responsibilities to the Lakers?
The key is to know if LeBron is ready to say, “Here, you take over.” When LeBron went to Miami, everyone asked, “Are you going to sacrifice yourself?” But LeBron never sacrificed himself. LeBron goes to Miami, Bosh and Wade see their utilization rate drop, LeBron’s rate remains the same. LeBron returns to Cleveland, Kevin Love’s usage rate and Kyrie Irving down, LeBron’s remains the same.
If we follow the logic of the analyst, we can therefore expect that the Chosen One will not change its approach in 2021-22. For the moment, this tends to be confirmed from a visual point of view: out of the three games he played this year, he was indeed the custodian of the game, and not a Russell Westbrook for example. However, when we see what has happened over the past twelve months, it may well change.
After all, LeBron is coming off his shortest career campaign, missing 27 games last year. His ankle injury has put a lot of things in perspective, and we must not forget that he is now in his 19th NBA season. However, given that we are seeing the first signs of physical fatigue in him, we can imagine that he certainly had to review his strategy during the summer. The fact that he suffered a small relapse against Memphis should also push him to be all the more careful.
In addition to that, the quadruple champion can count on a deep workforce, even if the collective chemistry is not yet at the top. If Westbrook was recruited, it is also to relieve him of the distribution. As for Anthony Davis, he will become the boss of the Purpres et Ors once his eldest is retired, and is already a licensed scorer. It remains to be seen what will be the tactics employed by Californians in the weeks to come.
LeBron less involved in the game? It wasn’t her style at all until now, but maybe the circumstances could change that. However, we can still expect to see him do a lot of big performances this year!
