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LeBron James Might Toss 600 or 700 Assists This Season
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There was a loud explosion in the neighborhood this morning and the power went out. Yay!
So I am sharing LeBron James assist video from McDonald’s:
LeBron played 18 minutes and finished with 10 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds. At a per-36 minute clip, that’s a 20/10/8 line, though this was, of course, a meaningless preseason game.
But how fun is it to watch LeBron sling the rock? Holy cow! The vision, the anticipation, the assertiveness. It’s a sight to see.
It’s one thing for him to swing the ball around the perimeter and pick out open guys in the corner and on the wing, right at those break lines. The Sixers are going to get plenty of open looks from those spots this season.
The thing I liked the most about Thursday night was those baseline and early duck-in passes. You see the V.J. Edgecombe cut in the clip above. There’s also the under-the-basket find for Jabari Walker. One pass that I really liked that didn’t turn into an assist came from Joel Embiid creating an early seal on a mismatch and LeBron throwing almost what looked like a touch pass to him from the perimeter. LBJ recognizes this stuff so quickly. The Sixers Sixers are gonna feast with those low flex cuts and post ups and backdoor movements.
Even on this play here, it’s a pick and roll and Brooklyn blitzes LeBron with a double. He frees up Embiid with a pocket pass, and Jaylen Brown cuts on the baseline for an easy flush:
LeBron’s career-high is 10.6 assists per 36 minutes. That was 2019-2020 with the Lakers and amounted to 684 regular season assists in 67 games. He logged a 7.8 assist per-36 in his final Los Angeles season and his single-season career high TOTAL is 747 assists, when he played 82 games for the 2017-2018 Cavs.
Not to get crazy here, but if LeBron stays healthy and Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, and Embiid hit their shots, LBJ could have a massive year passing the ball. 650 assists? 700? WHO KNOWS!? He seems to be totally fine with this facilitator role as well, like he doesn’t need to be a primary scorer or take X amount of shots per game. That goes a long way in solving the issue of “there is only one basketball.”
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com