Getty LeBron James, Lakers
In what was an otherwise brilliant performance that saw LeBron James post 22 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in a win over the Mavericks on the NBA‘s big Christmas Day showcase, the Lakers star had one moment that stood out as less-than-optimal. With 3:14 to play in the third quarter and the Lakers up by 13 points, James stepped to the free-throw line, licked his fingers and … promptly chucked an airball.
Again, James had a great game and the Lakers blew out the Mavs. We’re doing some nit-picking here. But here’s how it looked:
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James was asked about the shot after the game on Friday. He had mentioned, when he injured his ankle earlier in the week, that he would get through the pain by drinking wine, because it would go right down to his feet, where the pain was.
“I told you the other night,” James said, “when I drink, the wine goes straight down the left side of my body. Tonight, I shot the free throw with my right hand so it did not have the side effects. Tonight, I am going to drink some wine and try to shoot it down to the right side of my body maybe to help my free throw to give me a little more strength to where it doesn’t hit absolutely nothing. So we’ll see. Maybe I need to drink upside-down tonight, maybe, vampire-style.”
LeBron James Has Struggled at the Line as a Laker
Free-throw shooting is hardly a concern at this point, as James is making 72.7% of his foul shots through two games, which is in line with his career average, 73.4%. But in a wider context, foul shots are something to keep an eye on for James, as his numbers from the line have dipped in recent years.
In 2018-19, James’ first season with the Lakers, he shot 66.5% from the free-throw line, a career low. That improved last season, though only marginally, to 69.3%. Only two other times in his 17-year career has James finished below 70% on foul shots—in 2006-07 (69.8%) and in 2017-18, his final year in Cleveland (67.4%).
Back in November of 2018, just 13 games into his Lakers career, James went just 3-for-7 from the free-throw line against the Hawks, including misses on two important late free throws. He wound up making up for those misses with a follow-up dunk, but he still declared of his free-throw shooting at the time: “I’m garbage. I suck from the free-throw line right now.”
“I’m garbage. I suck from the free throw line right now.” – LeBron 😂
Point-Guard Duties Limit LeBron James’ Free-Throw Attempts
That has been one fortunate offshoot of James assuming the point guard’s role for the Lakers last season, into this year—because he handles the ball and sets up the offense more, the team relies on him less to attack the basket. That means he gets to the free-throw line less often.
Last year, James attempted 5.5 free throws per game, fewest of his career. He also averaged a career-high 10.2 assists, which led the league. He is going to the line 5.7 times per game through two games this year.
Maybe he needs some wine to avoid the airballs. But because of his reduced rate of free-throw attempts, at least he won’t need that much.
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