Full Quotage:
>”Right now, LeBron is thinking for everyone instead of just being LeBron,” Frye said. “And it’s just like, damn. You just want to see him be able to just — I don’t want to say relax, not relax — but to be sort of one-dimensional. Do you need him as point guard? Do you need him as off guard? Where do you need him? And he does that.
>”Not like, ‘Hey, LeBron … we just need you to do a little bit of everything.'”
>Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who teamed up with James to win a title with the Lakers in 2020, said that the more shooting you put around the four-time MVP then, the less he looks for his own 3-point shot. Not that James hasn’t improved from the outside as his career has progressed, but even with him making a personal-best 2.9 triples per game last season on a respectable 35.9% clip, he shot 79.6% on shots at the rim.
>And James ended up taking 448 shots beyond the arc versus 397 shots around the iron last season.
>”The spacing was great,” Caldwell-Pope told ESPN before the Oct. 26 Lakers-Nuggets game about his time with James in L.A. “The spacing gives driving lanes for Bron and AD, where Bron didn’t like to shoot as much 3s. So it gives him driving lanes, and when he does see the help, he’s a tremendous passer and he would find us.”
>Like Frye, Caldwell-Pope said he hopes James is set up to be the best version of himself as he goes through the twilight of his career.
>”Just watching the games, it just looks like there’s no basketball over there,” Caldwell-Pope said. “It’s just playing pickup. It’s hard to watch sometimes. So from me to him, just get the team together, and I just want to see that spark in him again. I don’t think I see that spark in Bron. So, hopefully, he can get it back.”
[Source](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34944387/lakers-failed-provide-lebron-james-3-point-shooters-once-again)
31 comments
They got players doing klutch propaganda now
No your time is up old man. Let Giannis ride
Kentavious “Kareem Abdul Jabbar” Caldwell-Pope
Surprisingly level-headed take from KCP here. Feels like you don’t ever really see guys comment on another team or player with that level of perspective.
“Come get me bron bron”
Honestly I think This is the beginning of Lebrons true decline.
LeDepressed
Damn, Russ got his Joy back only for LeBron to lose his Spark
Imagine talking down to LeBron about how to play basketball lol
I can see Lebron coming off the bench. Let Russ run the point. Doesn’t hurt to try
Lebron’s ego is now over a billion dollars. As Lakers celebrated their first win off of Lonnie Walker, Reaves, Ryan, AD, Russ Heroics. Lebron didn’t even high five anyone. In the second game, when Matt Ryan hit the game tying shot with 1.4, Lebron just went to whisper in AD’s ear while RUss was ear to ear.
It was like Cavs vs Boston all over again. But this time he’s dug himself in too deep and he can’t request a trade. So heehaw wants to blow the team and ship them for some fresh all stars. No Joy allowed. No Heroics allowed *unless its me*. If Lakers win another game I’m sure he’ll consider load management.
Sign him to ESPN already
> It just looks like there’s no basketball over there. It’s just playing pickup.
This is sadly the truth. Fuck.
Did Kevin Love give Bron depression?
Remember he had leg injuries which made him “drive shy”. Now it’s either a bully drive or a predictable three. He’s super easy to read.
There’s factors at play that makes it hard to parse lebron’s performance
-poor roster construction
-sickness
-age related decline
It’s hard to say how these 3 contribute to lesser performance, but as someone whose watched him extensively he actually looks physically spry and faster than last year, when he was bogged down by the continuous knee swelling
Also we can’t forget that lebron usually starts slow and ramps up
The pt is there’s a lot going on and it’s hard to say definitively “this is the singular cause”
Just a terrible roster
He’s not a leader of that team. He gave up.
He spark then he gone. He spark and then he gone. He spark and then he gone.
The man is damn near 40, I don’t understand why this is news?
it’s not mj wizards level but there has been something depressing about watching lbj and kd this year
I think Lebron is ready to retire. All he is waiting for is for Bronny to get picked up on the squad to check on for a few plays together.
Shep Owens called them rec league
LeDone.
Lebrons been declining athletically for a few years now, dudes 38 he can’t stay elite forever. He’s still a great player obviously but his days as a top 5 guy are probably over at this point, nothing against him as a player or anything but this is the way it goes even with players as good as Lebron.
Lebron is realizing that young men got game. He had no clue how to guard Lauri nor Mitchell. Who ya gonna guard? Ghost Busters.
I guess it’s probably hard to be LeBron, all these years later, and get excited about early regular season basketball.
You know they downbad when KCP feels the need to give em pep talks from afar
Man he’s 38. He’s done enough just let him play. He’s probably cemented as #2 of all time and the best all around player ever. Let him play now.
I think LeBron is probably just barely clinging onto a Top 10 in the League spot and I reckon this is the last year he will hold that status. He is probably going to need to take a step back and be another guy and likely not the best player as part of a Big 3 in order to win ring number 5.
What spark? Complaining to the refs and playing zero d? Because that’s what he’s been doing for the past 10 years.