In an interview with ESPN, Lebron James admitted he was a bit envious of the amount of shots that his on-court rival, off-court friend Kevin Durant gets to take in a game.
“I get jealous sometimes when I look over at KD and he’s like 16-for-32 (from the field) and then 14-for-34. … Man,” James told ESPN.com’s Tom Haberstroh.
While the Miami Heat star is shooting a career-high 59.1 percent from the field this season, he is tied for just 18th in the league in field goal attempts (580) with an average of 16.1 per game.
With that kind of efficiency, James could stand to take more shots but explained, “I’m not much of a forced-shot guy.
“But there are games where I have it going, and then at the end of the game, I’m like, damn, I shot just 12-for-16? Why don’t I get up at least six or seven more? I definitely notice it.”
“First of all, you have to have an unbelievable mindset to get up 30 shots,” James said. “I always think about it, though. If I get up high-20s, 30 shots a game, what could I do today, with the way I’m playing?”
I’ve always wondered why Lebron doesn’t take more shots, but it just seems that it’s not in the NBA star’s nature. After losing to the Mavs in the NBA Finals in his first season with the Miami Heat, James was chastised by critics for passing the ball too much instead of taking critical shots himself. James subsequently responded by showing that he’s not afraid of taking more shots and winning back-to-back championships. Still it is doubtful that James will ever be the type of player to consistently put up 30 shots in game.