Now that he's 31, a multimillionaire and a business mogul, LeBron James joked how people don't know what to get him for his birthday. So James gave himself a gift in Tuesday's win against the Denver Nuggets: a jump shot.
James was aware of the ugly stats that surfaced earlier Tuesday that basically identified him as the worst jump shooter in the NBA this season. NBA.com numbers guru John Schuhmann created a chart on Twitter illustrating James as having the worst shooting percentage on mid-range shots and the worst shooting percentage outside the paint of any player in the NBA (minimum 200 attempts).
James entered Tuesday shooting 31.9 percent on mid-range shots and 28.5 percent outside the lane overall. But give him a challenge and he'll take it.
James is only averaging about four mid-range shots per game, but he shot 6-of-9 from midrange on Tuesday and 7-of-14 overall outside the paint.
"It's early in the season," James said. "Even though I've been frustrated by how I've been shooting the ball, I have to understand it's still early and I'm still getting my legs up underneath me."
James turned 31 Wednesday, one day after his 34-point outbreak against the Nuggets. He has been working to fix his jumper and watching film. He noticed he had been shooting a lot of off-balance shots lately, so he focused Tuesday on keeping a good base against the Nuggets.
The season is one-third over, but James believes he doesn't hit his full stride until after the All-Star break, which is still more than six weeks away. That's why he isn't too worried about how gruesome the numbers might look now.
"I understand how crucial it is trying to get to the mainframe of the season. I'm not disrespecting what we need to do before the All-Star break. I understand that," he said. "But for me personally, I've always kind of hit my stride when my body kind of gets reps and gets into form playing the games, playing back-to-backs, having road trips and things of that nature. I always kind of looked at it as another point for me to begin."
The numbers don't exactly bear out his beliefs. He is historically a better 3-point shooter after the All-Star break (.338 before vs. .343 after), but his field-goal percentages are an identical .496 and his free-throw percentage, true shooting percentage, usage rate and offensive rating are so close the differences are negligible. Truthfully, the Cavs don't need James at his best until April, anyway.
As for birthday gifts, James doesn't see many of those these days.
"What do you get a man that's got everything?" Iman Shumpert asked.
Indeed, that's the precise question that James playfully said annoys him.
"It's become an excuse," James joked. "'We can't get you nothing, what do we get someone who has everything?' That's what I hear. I don't have everything, though."
After briefly contemplating it, Shumpert did think of something to get for James.
"We've got to get him a championship," he said. "Put it on layaway."
About the Author
