Player Facts
Height: 6'9"
Weight: 250lbs.
Date of Birth:
Dec. 30, 1984
College Experience: Saint Vincent-Saint Mary's (HS)
Selections
All Star: 20
All-NBA: 20
All-Defensive: 6
Player Grades
Speed/Explosiveness: 9
Physical Strength: 10
Positional Size: 10
Positional Wingspan: 10
Paint Scoring: 10
Midrange Scoring: 7
Three-Point Scoring: 7
Dribbling: 9
Passing: 10
Perimeter Defense: 8
Interior Defense: 8
Rebounding: 8
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STRENGTHS
Intro
LeBron is as close as it gets to being a flawless basketball player. At 6’9” and 250 pounds, he is an incredible athletic beast complemented by one of the greatest basketball minds ever. James can essentially play any position on the floor and possesses a host of sensational skills even here into his 40's.
Generational Athlete
He is a generational physical specimen. At his athletic peak, he was insanely explosive and quick, but has maintained a large functional portion of this as his career presses on. James has always been one of the game's highest leapers.
The exceptional upper body strength he has translates to tremendous finishing ability at the basket. LeBron's and-ones are some of the most frequent, and equally impressive, in the entire league.
Lethal Interior Finishing
James' interior finishing is masterful. His leaping ability and bulky frame work in harmony with his supreme skill level. He can finish with seemingly equal effectiveness on both right-hand and left-hand layups off either foot. LeBron loves to take off from well outside the restricted area and majestically improvise in mid-air. His body control in the air is truly remarkable.
LeBron's finishing package within the paint is extremely broad and nuanced. On a given possession, he can powerfully throw down a thunderous slam dunk. Then on the next possession, he can just as easily use a spin move to get his shoulder into his defender followed by a silky-smooth lay-in.
Ranging from power finishes to acrobatic layups, James led the league with 543 made baskets in the restricted area in 2017-2018. He reached this tally on a blistering 75.2% clip here. More recently, LeBron posted a 2021-2022 campaign that included an even better 75.3% restricted area mark on high volume.
Getting to the Cup
James' explosive first step combined with his simplistic but effective dribble moves provide ample slashing opportunities. He needs only a sliver of space to burst through the seam of a defense. Brute forcefulness allows LBJ to maintain his driving angle after creating the advantage initially.
2017-2018 saw him produce the third-highest total points off drives at 674 on 60% efficiency. His production bested dynamic slashers like Russell Westbrook and Giannis Antetokounmpo that year. 2021-2022 saw him clear 55% on his takes to the cup as well.
Defenses are stuck having to pick their poison whenever James barrels to the hole. When LeBron decides to put his head down and power to the basket, his unrivaled combination of elite passing and slashing renders the defense helpless. If opposing defenders converge on him in the paint, he'll find an open teammate. Conversely, it is equally unwise to allow a clear runway for James to finish.
The gravity that LeBron provides is unlike any other player. On his slashes to the cup, he attracts multiple defenders concerned with his lethal interior finishing. James proceeds to handle this pressure calmly and collectively. His sky-high basketball IQ shows here, knowing exactly how the opposing defensive scheme works and therefore how to unravel it.
Next-Level Playmaking IQ
LeBron has an uncanny ability to know the strengths of his teammates to a tee. This serves to dictate who to deliver the ball to depending on the personnel surrounding him. Statistically, 2021-2022 saw him produce 916 points for teammates via the assist.
For instance, playing next to the high-flying Anthony Davis has unearthed several passing opportunities that would be unavailable with a conventional big. Since Davis is such a quick leaper with an enormous catch radius, James knows he can perfectly lob the ball to a high point where only Anthony can get to.
James is perpetually aware of who and where his shooters are. He also displays a strong grasp of their specific hot shooting zones and looks to find them there. Via penetration or on post-ups, he is scanning to see which defenders are sliding over to help rather than stay home on shooters.
His crisp deliveries to shooters tend to land directly in their shooting pocket. This helps them rise up in rhythm a valuable moment faster compared to a less accurate pass. Facilitating both two-pointers and three-pointers, James accounted for a league-leading 54.2% of his team's assists when he was on the court in 2019-2020.
He is excellent at directing his teammates so that the offense is spread out optimally. It is common to see James gesture to his players upon noticing something they may not see. All in all, LeBron compiled the most assist points created in the Association during 2019-2020.
LeBron makes jump-passes better than anyone. While coaches tend to advise against these sorts of passes, players as intelligent and talented as James have full reign to do so. He uses them chiefly to garner the attention of additional defenders and cause them to commit early. James follows this up by feeding whichever teammate is left open as defenders fly around haphazardly.
Unique Passing Gifts
Additional elements of LeBron's playmaking toolkit that help him be so dominant are his velocity and the ability to lead a teammate into the shot. With these bullet passes in his arsenal, he can zip them through narrow/transient passing windows with relative ease.
The Akron native manufacturers countless open shots by having the rare capacity to lead rollers and cutters into an easy bucket with near perfection. The way he forecasts where and how his teammates will move is extraordinary.
In addition to executing these deliveries with perfect timing, the dexterity he has with his bounce passes must also be noted. He places the bounce point wherever necessary so as to best spoon-feed the finisher in stride. Off the catch, James typically knows who he is passing to and what pass type to unleash before he himself even receives the ball.
James ups the tempo of the game at will through the pressure he places on the opposition. More specifically, he looks to push the pace to manufacture easy looks even off of a made basket. This is a feature of his game that produces points for both himself and teammates. LeBron rarely misses an opportunity to exploit a defense that leisurely jogs back.
Devastating Transition Play
LeBron is arguably the most prolific open court player in NBA history. The entirety of his athletic tools can be showcased on the fast break. James is a terror running the wing to finish the break catching a lob or another pitch ahead.
He is similarly devastating when initiating the break, often going end-to-end in a flash. As opponents try to crowd him on the break, he maintains his otherworldly court vision and rapidly locates the open man. He was in the top three for transition points per game in each season from 2015-2016 to 2018-2019.
James starts any transition possession with his priority being to throw the early outlet pass. Across his illustrious career, he has found rim running bigs like Chris Bosh, Kevin Love, and Anthony Davis for easy points. Zippy guards have also been recipients of these long-distance dimes as they leak out. His success in this area stems from an opportunistic mindset and pinpoint passing accuracy.
Powerful Post Play
James posts to both score and facilitate. Almost no other player has the blend of size, speed, and strength to adequately guard him down there. He capitalizes on mismatches by sharply demanding for the ball in the post and sealing his man with his strong base.
As a scorer, he uses power dribbles to gain ground, finishing with a drop step towards the baseline oftentimes. He has also developed a turnaround baseline jumper that he employs mostly in late-clock situations. In 2017-2018, James was in the 87th percentile for post-up scoring.
LeBron makes smart, quick decisions as a passer out of the post, awaiting the second defender he so often attracts. In fact, he usually commences these back-to-the-basket scenarios with a scan of the floor. If defensive movement leads to an open cutter or shooter, James will find him even if it necessitates a cross-court pass.
Screen-and-Roll Savant
As the pick-and-roll ball-handler, LeBron displays the full passing package and is arguably the greatest P&R playmaker of all time. He makes pocket passes, lobs, lay-downs and kick-outs to shooters all look easy with extreme precision. James likes the wraparound pass to feed his big man in the dunker spot when available.
He has virtually zero weaknesses here in terms of pass type or direction. His expertise at using slick one-handed feeds off the dribble allows him to make passes a meaningful split second faster than most players.
James can also score at high volumes using the screen-and-roll. He can play the part of the roll man, setting bruising screens and finishing strong at the cup. In 2021-2022, he placed in the 93rd percentile for scoring as the roller.
He can pile up points as the ball-handler in these actions, tearing through even the narrowest of driving angles. After turning the corner, he steamrolls to the rack, undeterred by bumps and swipes.
2017-2018 saw James produce 1.02 points per possession as the ball-handler here, good for the 91st percentile. LBJ still averaged a solid 5.1 points per contest as the P-N-R initiator in his 2020-2021 campaign. That per-game output bested the likes of All Stars Kevin Durant, Khris Middleton, and Jaylen Brown.
Catching it on the Move
Coming off curls or otherwise catching the ball in motion is a great way to utilize LeBron within the flow of the offense. He's adept at making lightning-quick reads and the appropriate touch passes on the move. He can also score off hand-offs and curls, to the tune of 1.43 points per possession for 2018-2019 dribble handoffs.
Off-Ball Effect
Off-the-ball, James still provides copious amounts of value. Though this is not a role he has played often across his career, he still makes the most of his opportunities here.
He is a superb cutter, leveraging his basketball IQ to see the entire floor and assess which defenders are inattentive. LeBron can get up high to catch lobs as a backdoor cutter, buoying his overall capabilities here. He also dives right down the gut of the defense whenever teams swarm a teammate and foolishly lose sight of James.
As a floor spacer, LeBron has steadily made incremental gains. With the league becoming an increasingly perimeter-oriented game, James has taken and made more threes as a response. He has always been serviceable as a spot-up option. In 2021-2022, he hit 37.6% of his catch-and-shoot tries from deep.
Living at the Stripe
LeBron gets the line very well and has done this since his 2003-2004 rookie campaign. He hovers between average and slightly below average as a free throw shooter, unfortunately. Still, his sheer volume of attempts has a positive impact on his squad.
Board Collection
James is a very good rebounder, especially on the defensive end. Relentless rebounding is what has allowed him to record so many career triple-doubles.
He has been inside of the top twenty for total defensive boards in numerous seasons. His huge frame allows him to carve out inside positioning against taller bigs. LBJ keeps his head up and instantaneously scans the floor upon coralling the board - looking to head-man the basketball with haste.
Cerebral Defense
LeBron is an extremely smart and talented defensive player. He knows what his man's tendencies are and guards them accordingly. For instance, if he's guarding a poor perimeter shooter like Ben Simmons or Zion Williamson, he'll give them an exaggerated buffer of space. Also, James will sit on the preferred shoulder of a given post player in order to take them out of their comfort zone.
James' man defense is something to behold. When he's fully locked in, he moves his feet very well and uses his big body to get physical and make his man uncomfortable. 2019-2020 saw him place in the 82nd percentile for his defensive work in isolation sequences.
At his peak, LeBron was a very dynamic help defender. As his career has progressed, he's made up for a dip in athleticism with optimal body positioning. A capability of James that informs a lot of what he does on defense is how he actually decelerates to sync up his final two steps with the slasher.
He'll still occasionally execute his once-popular chasedown block primarily in transition. Moreover, he is an effective communicator who vocally orchestrates the team defense. Being such a colossal body flying around the court as a disruptor just makes the opposition's plays more difficult to execute.
James harnesses his basketball intellect to forecast where opponents are headed in a given play. A decline in foot speed as he ages has been largely counteracted by an uptick in clever body positioning. The result is a player that remains an impactful off-ball defender.
For instance, an early-career LeBron would have summoned a jaw-dropping feat of athleticism to cover ground to make the defensive play. More recent iterations of James find him leaning on advanced reads to blow up plays. A locked-in LeBron still jets into passing lanes and rotates his big body into the paint to contest.
He exhibits a high degree of discipline on defense which helps to limit his fouls. James wisely relies upon his lateral quickness and good footwork to legally fight through screens or otherwise stick with ball-handlers. With the Lakers in 2019-2020, he was in the 76th percentile for his defense on pick-and-roll ball handlers.
Defensive Versatility
He is versatile enough to guard most other positions. He is heavier and stronger than a lot of opposing bigs. This helps him be proficient as a post defender. Alternatively, his agility on the perimeter helps him actively stay with guards following a switch. He almost always displays good effort on this end, with 48 defensive loose balls recovered in 2019-2020.
WEAKNESSES
Free Throw Inefficiency
James' most notable weakness is his free throw shooting. He is streaky at the charity stripe and leaves a sizable amount of points on the table. In his three seasons from 2017-2018 to 2019-2020, LeBron shot 73.1%, 66.5% and 69.3% from the stripe.
LeBron is also not a great pull-up jump shooter, but this small weakness is masked by the plethora of other elite offensive skills. In 2019-2020 he shot 37.3% on catch-and-shoot jumpers against just 33% on pull-ups. 2020-2021 saw some growth in this area but it is still a definite win for the defense if he takes the jumper.
Coughing Up the Basketball
LeBron turns the ball at a somewhat alarming rate. With such a high usage rate year after year though, this shortcoming is largely unavoidable. However, he does force some overly difficult passes here and there. LBJ committed 4+ turnovers per-36 in both 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.
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