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The Los Angeles Lakers have been on the struggle bus as of late, having lost back to back games in blowout fashion following Wednesday evening's demolition at the hands of the Miami Heat. LeBron James bounced back from some rough shooting performances as of late with a solid stat line in this one, but overall, the Lakers looked to be moving at a different (slower) speed than the Heat.
Despite the 28 points he scored in Miami against his former team, the overarching story as of late for the Lakers has been the decline in James' play, as the king recently missed 19 straight three point attempts spanning three games, a streak which mercifully came to an end on Wednesday.
Recently, NBA insider Tim MacMahon of ESPN took to the Hoop Collective podcast to break down some alarming statistics about James' impact on the team.
“Here is the shocking stats. When LeBron is on the floor the Lakers are getting outscored by 8.2 points per 100 possessions,” said MacMahon. “It is the worst of any rotation player. When he’s off the floor they’re plus 7.7. For LeBron to have that level of negative on / offs…”
“I don’t have to look that up, that’s never been the case in his career,” confirmed co-host Brian Windhorst.
Tim Bontemps then compared the James situation to what the Golden State Warriors are experiencing with Stephen Curry.
“That’s the problem right, it’s not a sustainable workload. You look at Steph Curry with the Warriors, the Warriors have had their own issues of late,” said Bontemps. “Steph is dealing with his own bilateral knee soreness, again a reminder that these guys are in not only the back 9, but the back 3 or 4 of their career or less at this point.”
Do the Lakers have a LeBron problem?
This summer at the Olympics, LeBron James looked like the clear best player on the floor even when surrounded by some of his most talented counterparts in the NBA.
While he has at times still looked elite so far in 2024-25, the Kid from Akron is currently suffering through one of the worst shooting stretches of his career, and offers little to nothing on the defensive end of the floor as he approaches the age of 40.
Still, if there's one thing LeBron has taught us throughout his career, it's never to write him off too early.
The Lakers will next play on Friday evening on the road against the Atlanta Hawks to conclude what has been an ugly road trip.
