Much has been made of LeBron James playing a different role on this Los Angeles Lakers team ever since they traded for Luka Doncic. For the first time in his career, James is not centerpiece of the offense or the primary ball-handler as that role falls on Doncic.
The world already witnessed this to an extent last season with LeBron fully embracing a more secondary role, but now he has had a full offseason to prepare himself and the Lakers superstar noted that he worked hard on his catch-and-shoot 3-pointers this offseason
“I spent a lot of time with my catch-and-shoot 3-pointers,” James said during Lakers Media Day. “Probably seen a couple videos either me re-posting, me working out with Chris Johnson during my summer workouts. Understanding how can I make the most of when I don’t have the ball either moving, moving into space.”
“Obviously Luka and AR are gonna do a lot of time handling the ball. We’ve got Marcus Smart now who can handle the ball. Gabe, Bronny when he gets his opportunity can handle the ball. We have a lot of guys who can handle the ball so how can I still be effective on a team where I don’t have to handle the ball as much, I’ll handle the ball as well. I did a lot of everything, but I did shoot a lot more catch-and-shoot 3s just wanting to be ready. My OG, Otis Carter, always told me if you stay ready you never gotta get ready and it’s literally that simple so that’s what I tried to do this summer.”
There has already been great improvement from LeBron over the last two seasons with his 3-point shooting. His 41% mark two years ago was a career-high and he followed that up with a more than acceptable 37.6% mark last season. He also shot 42% on catch-and-shoot triples, the highest on the team, but he took less than three per game so ideally he can maintain that accuracy while increasing the volume.
One thing that is for sure is that LeBron will put in all of the necessary work and his ability to be a knockdown 3-point shooter, in addition to everything else he brings to the team, will only raise the ceiling of what the Lakers are capable of.
Lakers being cautious with LeBron James in ramp-up for 23rd NBA season
Of course, the Lakers want to make sure that they have LeBron James available and at his best for as much of the season as possible which is no easy feat with him entering his 23rd NBA season. As such, head coach JJ Redick revealed the Lakers will be cautious with LeBron as they ramp up towards the start of the regular season.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
