LeBron James speaks to “basketball savants” in the postgame press conference.

Speaking to the crowd after a rowdy Lakers win this Friday, LeBron James sent a message to the “basketball savants” who say he shouldn’t be conceding to his teammates down the stretch of the game. But after leaning on players like Cam Reddish to close the game vs. Phoenix, James doubled down on the strategy and lauded his track record of always making the right play.

“To all the naysayers and basketball savants that don’t know nothing about basketball telling me I should’ve shot that shot in Miami instead of passing to Cam Reddish, well I did the same thing tonight because I trust my teammates and I make the right play every single time. Game ball goes to Cam Reddish, for sure.”

LeBron claps back at those saying he shouldn’t have passed to Cam Reddish in the clutchpic.twitter.com/cgbkPxo2ic

— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) November 11, 2023

Cam Reddish is one of the Lakers’ newest signings, and he’s been thrown into the fire early on by head coach Darvin Ham. Even after missing a potential game-winning shot against the Miami Heat, Reddish never lost the trust of LeBron, who looked for him time and time again on Friday. This time, however, it paid off with Reddish going for 17 points on the night, which included several big-time shots in the clutch.

LeBron Has Always Passed On The Final Shot

One of the most controversial aspects of LeBron’s career is his tendency to pass the final shot of a tight game. Over his career, James has prided himself on making the smart play and when teams move to cover him on the final possession, he almost always looks to pass it off to the open man instead of taking the shot for himself. In one of the most famous examples, LeBron turned the ball over after trying to pass off the final shot of the NBA All-Star game. His teammates at the time confronted him immediately.

While most greats like Kobe and Michael prefer for the ball to be in their hands for the final shot, LeBron often leaves the fate of the game to others and it has worked to varying degrees of success. As a 4x NBA champion, James obviously hasn’t lost anything with this late-game approach and, in fact, some would argue that he’s usually in the right when he passes up an isolation moment to look for the best shot available.

LeBron Is Having An Inspiring Run

This season may be LeBron’s finest yet in the Purple and Gold. Through 8 games this season, with Anthony Davis already missing time, LeBron is averaging 24.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game on 55% shooting. At 34.8 minutes per game, LeBron has been putting the Lakers on his back to start the season and it’s why they are 4-5 after this Clippers game instead of being 3-6 or worse.

The truth is, despite being almost 39 years old, King James is feeling as good as he’s ever felt and it’s manifesting in the form of dominant play on the court. The biggest thing now for the Lakers is making sure they don’t waste this stretch from the King and to get back on track this season before things get too far off the rails. The win over Phoenix on Friday was a good start, but the path to contention is a long one in the West and this group still has a long way to go before they are in a place where they want to be.