LeBron James has scored a ton of points in these NBA Finals, but he’s jacking up a lot of shots in the process. Some pundits are complaining about James not being efficient or taking a high volume of shots.
The Black Mamba respects James’ brazen display of willing his team on his back, and explained it as only he could in a twitter response to a fan asking about LeBron’s shooting.
Can't win a shootout with a butter knife #letitfly https://t.co/57zWQzqsfg
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) June 10, 2015
James is in the finals with a badly wounded team, and he’s gotta do whatever he can to keep his squad in the game. That might include a 38 shot performance on some nights.
Cavs playing as if their life is on the line G.S playing as if they have more #NBAFinals down the line #ThisIsNOW #competitionIsEverything
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) June 10, 2015
James has taken 107 shots through three games — while already tying the mark for the 45th-most shots in Finals history since 1985.
By comparison — Allen Iverson shot 32.4 times per game in a five-games loss to the Lakers in 2001. James is averaging three more shots (35.6) per game, which is three more than Michael Jordan averaged per game in 1993 when he shot a record 199 times in six games.
Bryant himself is third on the all-time list for his 163 field-goal attempts in 2010.