Nuggets: ‘Playmaking ability’ is LeBron James’ most dangerous skill
LeBron James gives this young Denver Nuggets team their toughest task of the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
Prior to Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone told media members that he’s always believed that Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James’ “playmaking ability” is more dangerous than his scoring.
Considering that LeBron only scored 15 points in the Lakers’ win over the Nuggets in Game 1 but had 12 assists, that appears to be a fair assessment. Especially with James managing to be a +15 in the game, the same box score plus-minus held by Anthony Davis, who scored a game-high 37 points for Los Angeles.
Of course, one game doesn’t make a player but there are 17 NBA seasons worth of evidence — not to mention three Olympic medals and two FIBA World Championships — that show that James’ most impressive talents are his high basketball IQ and passing ability.
LeBron is ranked first in the U.S. Olympic men’s career record book in total assists and second in FIBA Americas Championship competitors. In the NBA, James ranked first in total assists for the 2019-20 season with 684 assists and is second among all active players in career assists with 9,346 assists (which ranks eighth all-time). While this is the first season that James led the league in total assists, he’s finished in the top-10 in total assists in 10 other seasons and has a grand total of 17 seasons in the top-20 of total assists.
Numbers aside, LeBron has long shown a preternatural understanding of the game that’s developed into an absolute mastery of offensive manipulation and nearly unrivaled awareness. Factoring the combination of his natural talent as a playmaker and nearly two decades worth of experience (1,515 total NBA games) and his abilities as a facilitator are dangerous indeed.
That’s not to say James isn’t one of the most threatening scorers in the NBA.
He doesn’t have the ball-handling ability of the Kyrie Irvings of the world, the puring shooting touch of the Kevin Durants of the world, and no longer has the first step to blow by any defender with ease. However, he has a combination of footwork, athleticism and strength that makes him a bully in the paint, especially when he gets a head of steam. In addition, he’s developed into a respectable shooter at all areas of the court.
He has 466 regular season games and 114 playoff games where he’s scored at least 30 points, with a career-high of 61 points highlighting his potency as a scorer as well.
This is what the Nuggets have to contend with and what makes facing him and the Lakers a far more daunting task than taking on Donovan Mitchell’s Utah Jazz or Kawhi Leonard’s Los Angeles Clippers, particularly with the talent of All-NBA big man Anthony Davis.
Playing the backend of his career and working towards a fourth NBA championship, LeBron isn’t going to go down quietly. He’s certainly not going to go down easily.