Was This Peak LeBron?

Throughout LeBron James' 21-year career, he's obviously put together some ridiculous individual seasons, but I think the 2017-18 season was special, where James played in all 82 games and led the Cavaliers to the finals without a real co-star. Now back in his early 30s, LeBron possessed some of the most dynamic physical tools in NBA history, where at 6'8 and 250, he had the built of an NFL linebacker, while also having the quick twitch explosiveness to blow past perimeter defenders and catch lobs above the rim. When looking at the film from this year, the first thing that stood out to me was LeBron's first step. Whether he was playing off the catch or dribble, James had the ability to dust the defense with simple straight line drives, where he would just pick a shoulder and dust his man into layups. You'll see Draymond Green here picking him up beyond the 3, and LeBron's gonna simply put the ball in his right hand and blow right past him. And this is one of the many reasons why LeBron has been such a great scorer throughout his career, because not only does he possess that cheat code athleticism, he also has the discipline to keep his game straightforward and simple. On this play, Kevin Durant is now gonna step up and meet James out well beyond the 3, and LeBron's gonna get KD leaning by sticking his weight into his right foot, creating a clear driving line. And while charging downhill, LeBron still has the control to gather and step past the help, giving himself a window to finish. Off the bounce, LeBron also doesn't get enough credit for how good his handle was. While obviously he wasn't super handles, James was still great at sizing up his man and reading angles. You'll see him here playing with the ball back and forth, to then exchange the ball through attacking this defender's top foot. James was also great at using his feet to pick up momentum with the ball, by using these subtle skips to load up, and shoot himself into these drives. Watch him here bring the ball through and get to this lateral skip, and this both gets him outside of the defense's frame, plus gives him the momentum to explode all the way past him. This is also one of LeBron's go-to moves, where he brings his left foot forward, and pounds the ball with his right hand. Then he's gonna bring the ball up to his outside pocket, and push off that left foot exploding into this drive. We can see the same thing here, where James is gonna again pound the ball and bring his left foot forward, to then push himself downhill. And as the weak side defense slides over, James is gonna pick up and jump early off his ball side foot, to put up this buttery soft scoop shot. I love this finish here, where James is gonna turn the corner off this go screen, and he's gonna again pick up, and jump early off his first step, and he's able to finesse up this inside hand finish. So James in isolation had the quickness and skill to cook anyone in open space, but the next thing we have to go over is LeBron's strength, which is probably the most important physical element in his game. Off the bounce, James was an absolute bull, having the ability to explode through contact, while maintaining balance and keeping his dribble alive. We'll see LeBron on this play turn the corner off this screen, and he's gonna throw his inside shoulder into Carl Anthony Towns' chest, bouncing him back into the stands. We'll see him again here drive right into the defense's chest, and while driving through contact LeBron's got the control to gather and explode off one foot for this jam. And what also makes LeBron special when attacking the basket, is that he's got the ability to explode off both one or two feet, and this gives him more finishing options in the paint. We'll see him here going up against Tatum in isolation, and James is gonna get back to his go to move, and as he starts to get into the teeth of the defense, he's gonna get to an aggressive jump stop, to then drift past the help of this left hand finish. So when it comes down to simply putting your head down and attacking the basket, I think this version of LeBron is one of if not the best downhill drivers in NBA history. Now at this point of his career, James was also becoming a pretty advanced scorer with his back to the basket, and this is where everything comes back to LeBron's blend of speed and strength. Obviously James had the ability to play bowling ball, and chisel his way into buckets, which he could pretty effectively do against a variety of matchups. And while LeBron didn't have the most advanced footwork down low, he still had the physicality and control to get buckets, and because the defense was so worried about LeBron bulldozing his way towards the basket, it allowed him to set up some different moves. One of LeBron's go to's was this quick spin, where he would feel the defense heavily leaning on his back, so in response, James would turn into their weight, setting up a clean attacking angle. So when it comes to scoring in the paint, LeBron was easily the best across the league, averaging 14 points per game around the basket, with some ridiculous efficiency as well. Now we all know that LeBron's one of the best slashers of all time, but what about his scoring outside of the paint? We can start off by looking at his midrange shooting. When looking at his numbers, James this year wasn't super efficient in between scores, but he was at least good enough that the defense had to come out to respect him, and because the defense was also so afraid of LeBron's downhill scoring, he could pretty easily push the defense back off the dribble, setting up these in rhythm pull ups. And while LeBron's never been known to be a top tier creator in the midrange, I do think he has a really good foundation into his shot, where he's comfortable putting moves together and dropping his shoulders, to then quickly pick up and elevate into his shot. Watch him here bring the ball through and dip his shoulders, selling that downhill drive, but from this spot James is going to both pick up, and settle his right foot into his jumper. This is a nice counter off the blow by move that we went over, where James pounds the ball and kicks that right foot forward, and when he feels this defender leaning back, James is going to skip into this left right pull up. LeBron's balance and stability also plays a big factor into his midrange scoring, where he's got the ability to aggressively attack to spots, to then rise up for unbalanced jumpers. This is a pretty clean pull up right here, where James is first going to attack right through this defender's frame, and when the defense's hips completely open up, LeBron is going to stop on a dime for this right left pull up. And some of these in between looks were also really difficult, where James was heavily fading out at awkward angles, but still had the control to put up buttery soft pillows at the basket. We'll see him on this play attack across the paint to his left, and when he gets into this fade away, notice how LeBron's going to release at the height of his jump, while drifting backwards. And the strength it takes to get this shot to the basket is crazy. Now James also created a big chunk of his in between looks in the mid post, where again his elite strength and control allowed him to heavily fade out and sink some pretty difficult looks. We'll see him here bumping his man down below the free throw line, and when he turns out into this fade away, there is pretty much no chance of altering that shot. So again, while LeBron did have a variety of ways to create these in between looks, he still wasn't the most accurate shooter from these spots, and it was always a win for the defense if they could push LeBron out into these difficult and less efficient looks. But when we extend out and look at LeBron's 3 point shooting, this was one of his best statistical years. James this season shot 41% on all his catch and shoot 3s. Now this wasn't really a big deal, because a vast majority of the Cavs offense was being run through James, and he averaged just over 1 catch and shoot 3 per game. But this still made LeBron a real floor spacer off the ball. James this year also shot the ball really well off the dribble, where he was more than comfortable pulling up going both right and left, punishing any kind of soft coverage by the defense. And James was also comfortable letting the ball go from range. We'll see this defender here get caught cheating underneath his screen. So LeBron's going to settle his feet behind the line, and rise up for this in rhythm jumper. This play really shows how confident LeBron was in his pull up shooting, where the Nuggets giving James all this open space to attack into, but LeBron still elects to rise up for this bomb. And then of course I have to mention that the FU3 was one of his go to moves in isolation, which is still the most unstoppable move in basketball history. So James being able to rise up and punish soft coverages in pick and roll and isolation has been one of the biggest factors to LeBron continuing to be one of the best scorers in the league for decades. So despite not being the most efficient shooter in the midrange, James is still a real 3 level scoring threat. Having the strength, quickness, and skill to get into the deep paint at will, being able to punish the defense for sagging back by rising up for the short in between jumpers, while also being a pretty good shot maker from behind the line. This obviously forced the defense to throw multiple defenders at LeBron in the halfcourt, which then opened up his playmaking. As a passer, James checks all the boxes, being able to snap these tight pocket passes in pick and roll, read the defense on the weak side of the floor, plus having some unique deliveries in his arsenal. By far my favorite dime that LeBron throws is his whip pass off his hip, where he brings the ball up to his waist level, then snaps his laser across the court. And what makes this pass so effective is that there is no load up into this dime. LeBron has the strength in his wrists and arms by itself to effectively laser this pass across the court, which allows him to instantly punish any kind of defensive breakdown. You'll see him on this play read this weak side defender sliding across the paint. So from his outside pocket, James is going to whip this skip pass all the way over to his teammate in the corner, creating a closeout for him to attack. And then obviously LeBron's ability to put pressure on the rim did lead to some routine kickout passes. And while James this year was missing a real co-star, the Cavs should still get some credit for surrounding him with shooters. So when looking at everything LeBron brought to the table this year, from his all time great slashing, above average 3 point shooting, and his elite playmaking, I think this year could be in the conversation for LeBron's best individual season. He obviously came up short against the stacked Golden State Warriors, but James getting this team all the way to the finals is still really impressive. If you enjoyed this breakdown please like and subscribe. And let me know in the comments which year you think was LeBron's offensive peak. The Kids Here!