Few offensive players have made defenses shakes when attempting to defend the rim like LeBron James has throughout his NBA career. Last season finally revealed some let-up in this area. Year 23 must be different for the Los Angeles Lakers superstar.
Jovan Buha discussed the subject on a recent episode of his podcast. The host of Buha's Block highlighted the matter when discussing realistic ways each Lakers player can improve this season. Increased attempts at the rim and getting downhill more often were this needed change for James.
Buha said, "He only attempted 35 percent of his shot at the rim last season, which is tied for the second fewest in his career. When shifting him to a big, which he played more four and five last season, that put him in just the 29th percentile of all bigs."
The Lakers reporter highlighted that just two seasons ago, 47 percent of James shots were at the rim. Seeing that kind of major drop-off is concerning. Even at this age, LeBron must maximize his effectiveness offensively. That should involve getting offense where it can be best found for him.
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Approaching 41 years old, this is no longer the version of James who was an athletic freak living above the rim as a young man in Cleveland. This is also not the fully-powered freight train who carried his defenders with him to the basket as a member of the Miami Heat.
Even so, the numbers told a story of James still being very effective when getting downhill. According to Basketball Reference, LeBron scored on 78.2 percent of his shots when shooting from 0 to 3 feet.
That number comes in surprisingly high for his career. In his 22 years of action, that mark is tied with the 2020-21 NBA season for the fourth highest percent of his playing days. Only 2013-14, 2021-22, and 2022-23 featured James posting higher figures from shots that came from 0 to 3 feet.
LeBron has done well to improve his 3-pointer. James shot 37.6 percent on 5.7 attempts in 2024-25, and 41.0 percent on 5.1 attempts in the season prior to that. Even with that added production, the easiest and most straightforward offense for him will always be down low.
With Luka Doncic taking the reins of the offense, James will have more opportunity to search for spots where this type of easy production can be found. It will be on him, but also on JJ Redick, to get creative and find the spots where LeBron can be maximized in a Doncic-led offense.
Whether it is serving as Luka's roll partner, or being positioning for a slot cut, the Lakers must work with James to ensure his offense still largely revolves around the rim. That is how both sides can benefit each other best in the upcoming campaign.