Pass-first LeBron James is the NBA's greatest scorer
It's hard to forget now that LeBron James, the holder of the NBA scoring title, is one of the game's all-time great scorers.
LeBron James’s basketball superpower is not blazing athleticism, brick wall strength, or high-flying verticality; it’s decision-making. He is a basketball computer, a chessmaster who leverages his strengths and exploits weaknesses. He was like that from the beginning, a distributor with an innate sense for the best basketball play.
That’s part of why we’ve never thought of LeBron as an all-time pure scorer, the way we think about Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant. Those guys have their patented moves, the pull-ups and fadeaways that immediately come to mind when we think of them. They were score-first stars, on the court to put the ball in the hoop.
LeBron with the ball in his hands is different. He wields more influence, an all-seeing force who will shoot the ball if the opportunity presents itself. Watch back his high school highlights, and you’ll see his roots. Against a prep team packed with future pros, he’s making jump passes to his friends for open threes.
That’s why last night’s historic game against the Thunder, in which LeBron broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s hallowed scoring record, was striking. He needed 36 points, and he was going to do it. LeBron showed up in the arena with that goal in mind.
This being LeBron, it was a great show, and it did not take away from his team’s performance at all. (The Lakers’ porous defense notwithstanding.) He went 13-20 from the field for 38 points. I mean, really? Everyone on Earth knew what he wanted to do, and here comes LeBron to score an efficient 38 anyway. And he was making his normal passes, too, though he only finished with three assists.
This record, perhaps the most prestigious individual record in the NBA, proves something that we often forget: LeBron is one of the absolute best scorers in league history. He has a diverse, evolving skillset with the ball in his hands. Picture a LeBron bucket, and a lot of images probably come to mind.
There are, of course, his transition rampages, where he powers through everyone. In the half-court, he has an arsenal of moves to get inside the paint, and an innate sense for finishing once he’s there.
He draws contact on his own schedule, to his advantage. Watch how his eurosteps get Jaylin Williams off balance, prepping a shoulder lean and lefty finish:
It’s not so much his physicality that overpowers Williams here. It’s his control and precision, his ability to keep a tight hold on the ball while drawing contact. By the time he plants back left, Williams has been muscled off his spot and LeBron is holding the ball high with both hands, ready to deposit a lefty finish.
His numbers at the rim have always been insane. This season, at age 38, he takes eight shots at the rim per game (third-most) and finishes 76 percent of them. He’s more efficient in the restricted area than Zion Williamson, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nikola Jokic. At age 38! It is hard to comprehend that.
If there’s anything about his scoring that stands out as indelible, a signature mark of LeBron, it’s his inevitability at the rim. You can just tell he’s better than everyone when he rises up close to the backboard, softly putting the ball in, as though it’s an easy task.
He has a deep list of counters to heavy help in the paint. He can make any floater, finger-roll, or up-and-under. These come in handy especially in the postseason.
One game that has always stood out is Game 6 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics. Kevin Love got hurt five minutes into that game, with the Cavs facing elimination. It was LeBron and four role players all night. He had 46 points on 17-33 shooting and nine assists, and they won by 10. (And won Game 7 two days later.)
Take a look at this tough floater. Who else does this?
He gets right into the paint against Jayson Tatum with a few hesitation moves, then somehow rises with his right hand to bank it high off the glass. LeBron called this type of shot a “Tier 3” finish in a recent ESPN article, indicating a high level of difficulty.
Just as he’s continually added to his arsenal of finishes, he’s improved as a shooter from everywhere, correcting what was once seen as his only weakness. He has long been a capable midrange and three-point shooter, punishing defenses that lag off him to guard the paint. He remembers the times he’s fallen short, like in the 2011 Finals against Dallas, when his shooting was his downfall. The shot that broke the record last night was a fadeaway midranger.
Everything comes in the flow of the offense. LeBron is known for making the best basketball play, hitting shooters and cutters before defenses can rotate. His on-court impact is so high because of this willingness; he ensures a quality shot so much of the time, with his scoring enhancing his playmaking and vice versa.
His ethos has always been pass-first, and he is fourth all-time in assists. He is now also first in scoring. He’s used his chessmaster tendencies to perfect new ways of putting the ball in the hoop. It’s only another of his career accomplishments.