LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers had to modify his style of play as he grew older. James made it apparent that he needed to work on his jump shot before starting his twenty-first season in the league.
The four-time champion can still go downward, but if he wants to maintain his health, he shouldn’t make it the focal point of his performance. After the 2023–24 season concluded, James demonstrated his effectiveness with a career-high 41% 3-point shooting on 5.1 attempts, giving Los Angeles some much-needed spacing.
Since almost every player must be able to shoot the 3-point field with a reasonable percentage, the 3-point shot has become a crucial component of the game in recent years. However, James gave an explanation for why he does not want to shoot more triples despite his coaches’ persistent advice to do so when talking about the subject of increasing 3-point output on his podcast Mind the Game with JJ Redick.
“I can tell you from here that some of our coaches are on our coaching staff and they want me to make more three-pointers. They’re supporting me and pushing me to make more threes. I’m not capable of doing it. I am unable to reach that stage. No, this isn’t an issue of ego at all. It seems like if I’m making 12–14 3-pointers every game, I’m not applying enough pressure on the defense. I feel like I can make six or seven of the threes that I’m shooting 12–14 times a game. Three or four of them, if I’m f***ing off, off. However, if I’m shooting 14 points a game, I can shoot at a high rate and I’ll get into a rhythm. However, I’m not pressuring the defense, and that’s not who I am. I have to put pressure on the defense. For example, even if some of our team’s players are now making a lot of 3-pointers—which I think is great—there still needs to be pressure applied to the rim. Even if I’m shooting jump shots well, I have to instill some feаr in the defense that you won’t just force me to shoot them all.
It is amazing that James, who is 39 years old, can still reach the hoop whenever he wants and still wants to play in that physical manner. Even though James’ game is improving as his career draws to a close, every team needs a guy who can create rim pressure, and thankfully for Los Angeles, they have one of the best drivers in history.