1. LeBron James’ free throw shooting
Free throw percentage is an under-rated statistic. The ability to convert foul shots is often the difference between winning and losing a close game.
As great a talent as LeBron James is, he has always been a below-average free-throw shooter. The NBA average for decades has hovered around 75-77%. This season it is 76.4%. Going into this year, James has connected at a 73.9% rate throughout his career. His highest single-season success rate was 78%, and his career low is 67.4%.
Those numbers seem particularly low in relation to the three players LeBron is compared with most often. Magic Johnson shot 85.6% with a career low of .760. Michael Jordan sank foul shots at an 83.5% rate; his low was .784. And Kobe Bryant made 83.7% of his free throws, with a low of .794.
This season, James Harden leads the NBA in free throw attempts, averaging 10.11 per game. He converts 85% of them, which gives his team 8.6 points per game.
To the surprise of no one, LeBron has taken more free throw attempts per game, 7.84, than any other Laker by a wide margin. He actually has shot more foul shots than the next three Lakers combined. Yet he is shooting just 67.9% from the line, his second-lowest percentage ever, which amounts to 5.3 points.
As a team, the Lakers rank dead-last in the NBA in free throw percentage at 69.2%. Only three players, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (90.5%, 7th in the league), Kuzma (78.2%) and Lance Stephenson (75%) are near or above the league average.
James, of course, is not the only Lakers culprit. He actually ranks 5th on the team in free throw percentage. JaVale McGee, Hart, Brandon Ingram, Svi Mykhailiuk, Lonzo Ball and Rajon Rondo are all shooting worse than he is. But it would certainly help their cause if their best player and team leader can start connecting at least at his career average for the rest of the season.
The fight for the playoffs in the Western Conference should be hotly-contested right down to the final week of the season. Certainly, Golden State will qualify, and at this point, it looks like you can pencil in Denver and Oklahoma City.
It just might be the little things that separate the 11 other teams. A return to expected form from Josh Hart’s offense, from Kyle Kuzma’s 3-point shooting and from LeBron James free throw shooting just might give the Lakers exactly the boost they’ll need.
All statistics courtesy of www.basketball-reference.com