Bron says he doesn’t take over games with his scoring because his game isn’t just putting up points
One of the main criticisms of LeBron James’ game is that he doesn’t take over games the way Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant did.
MJ and the Black Mamba dominated opponents with their ability to score when their teams needed points the most. Both could go on an insane scoring run where they would single-handedly will their teams to victories.
Meanwhile, LeBron doesn’t do that. He isn’t ashamed to pass the ball to a teammate if that guy is open and if that is the right play to make. He is willing to pass up a game-winning shot if a better play is available for his team.
LeBron’s unselfishness has always been perceived as his weakness, but during an interview with Chris Broussard when the latter was still with ESPN in 2013, LeBron revealed why he doesn’t take over games with his scoring.
“I think it’s great that you can put up a lot of points, but that ain’t my legacy — being a scorer,” proudly declared James. “When you say LeBron James, you ain’t gonna say, ‘Ahh, man, he was a flat-out scorer.’ I did a little bit of everything. I can score, though.”
James says he is not a flat-out scorer
James’ career-high is 61 points, which he accomplished while playing with the Big 3 in Miami. According to basketball reference, LeBron has a total of 14 50-point games, which puts him in a tie with Rick Barry for 7th most in NBA history. He also has the 8th-most 40-point game in league history with 76.
“The so-called gurus of basketball want LeBron to be Bernard King. I’m not Bernard King,” James said. “I’m not a flat-out scorer like that. That’s not all that I do. I do a little bit of everything. I averaged 31 in Cleveland my third or fourth year, and that didn’t get us anywhere. I led the league in scoring. People forget that.”
Bron averaged 31.4 points per game during his third NBA season in 2005-06, but he finished third behind Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson in the scoring race. Two seasons later, James led the NBA in scoring for the first and only time in his career at 30.0 points per game. But as he said, his teams could have gone farther in the postseason as the Cavs were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs in the 2005-06 and 2007-08 seasons.
LeBron claimed he could’ve won the scoring titles
Similarly, LeBron claimed he could’ve won the NBA scoring title every year if he wanted to. However, because he does more than just score, becoming the NBA’s top scorer was never his priority.
“My job is to do a lot of everything — rebounding, passing, and defending so that takes away from my scoring. I’ve done (the scoring title) before. I’m capable of doing it, but my game sometimes doesn’t allow me to have those big nights,” James said in 2012.
Despite not being a flat-out scorer, LeBron has emerged as the NBA’s all-time scoring leader, and he continues to add up to his record as if to make it unbreakable. Just recently, King James became the first player in NBA history to score at least 40,000 career points, which isn’t too shabby since he is not a flat-out scorer like MJ or Kobe.