The Evolution of LeBron's scoring | NBA App Excerpt

With LeBron passing Kareem as the all-time leader in points, I was lucky enough to be asked by the NBA to break down his scoring evolution over nearly two decades. Here's a brief preview from the NBA app. Of course, he was so gifted at 20 that he could attack set defenses with three big bodies near the rim. This defenders pulled way over to take away his right hand, so he just explodes left and draws free throws at the basket. In South Beach, the spacing was a little better, but there were still bigger bodies roaming the paint. So LeBron's cyborg athleticism found ways to score around them. There weren't many better players in history at bursting through tight spaces than peak LeBron James. Here's the man himself on that evolution in his career. First 11, 12 years, I was just super duper athletic and I could not be as efficient and not be as dialed in on the actual game, basketball game. I can go on and just figure things out. Once I jumped in the air, I could, I knew if I, my first few years, I knew if I could take off, I was gonna be up there a lot longer than you. You was gonna land before me. Then I figured it out after that. A 38-year-old LeBron uses tempo and horizontal angles. Instead of exploding to the rim, he takes a huge stride right to hop back left and uses size to shield the ball and finish. When he was younger, it was more full speed ahead, take on all comers, and he lived at the free throw line. About 21% of the points in his entire career have come from the line, whereas today that number is closer to 15%. So you're more likely to see something crafty than a huge highlight dunk, blending his dribble into a soft floating bank shot. That one came after a cut, and LeBron's always had great feel as a cutter for when to dart into little openings. And this was on full display in that 61-point game against the Bobcats down in Miami. Here's a play where he's away from the action and he knows this middle pick and roll will cause his defender to help in the lane. So as his man moves over, LeBron times a back cut and slips in behind for a layup. If you're interested, you can watch the entire video in the NBA app right now by clicking on the link in the description below.