With 13 wins in their last 15 games, the Los Angeles Lakers have been on a roll lately, and it seems like everyone in their rotation has bought into roles that are beneficial to the team. That includes LeBron James, who has accepted a new role as the Lakers’ third scoring option, a role that is radically different from any other he has played in the past.
Luka Doncic is undoubtedly L.A.’s main man on offense, and he has played some splendid basketball in recent weeks. But some may wonder how much longer James will be OK with his reduced role, especially if the team fizzles out early in the playoffs again.
Chris Broussard seemed to imply during an appearance on Fox Sports 1’s “First Things First” that James doesn’t love the fact that Doncic’s shot volume is very high and that it doesn’t always result in a high shooting percentage.
“We all talk about how high his basketball IQ is, historically high. There’s no way LeBron is sitting there watching Luka shoot 30 shots and miss two-thirds of them, thinking that’s smart. … I definitely am not saying he has any issue with Luka or anything, but he’s watching this — there’s no way he thinks that’s the best way to play basketball. I think he realizes though, this is the only way we can win. If I deplete myself the way D Wade did for LeBron, this is the best way we can win, but he knows that’s not smart basketball.”
In Wednesday’s 137-130 win over the Indiana Pacers, Doncic did take 30 shots, but he made half of them and ended up with 43 points. He did, however, go a combined 23-of-59 from the field in his previous two contests, which is a poor 39%.
Doncic is certainly very ball-dominant, and he leads the NBA in usage percentage. But the other half of the equation is that his teammates need to move without the ball and get open when he has possession, rather than simply stand around, watch him and expect him to bail them out.
Sometimes, the Lakers’ halfcourt offense devolves into something stagnant and slow, which results in Doncic having to take low-percentage contested shots with the shot clock running down. That is definitely not smart basketball, and everyone involved needs to minimize those situations as much as possible with the playoffs nearing.
On the season, the Slovenian superstar is averaging 33.6 points on 47.4% field-goal shooting and 36.4% 3-point shooting, 7.8 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.6 steals a game. James, meanwhile, is at 21 points, six rebounds and 6.9 assists per game this season.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Broussard: LeBron James may not like Luka Doncic’s shooting volume
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
