{"id":109945,"date":"2024-11-30T15:02:32","date_gmt":"2024-11-30T20:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=109945"},"modified":"2024-11-30T15:03:24","modified_gmt":"2024-11-30T20:03:24","slug":"lebron-james-worrying-turnovers-curry-esque-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/30\/lebron-james-worrying-turnovers-curry-esque-solution\/","title":{"rendered":"LeBron James’ Recent Worrying Turnovers Has a Curry-esque Solution"},"content":{"rendered":"

LeBron James<\/a> is enduring one of the worst decision-making stretches of his legendary career. Over the past two-plus weeks, his turnovers have surged to concerning levels. James has committed four or more turnovers in nine straight games, including five or more in four consecutive contests.<\/p>\n

LeBron James’ Recent Worrying Turnovers Has a Curry-esque Solution<\/h2>\n

In November, James recorded<\/a> 59 turnovers in 14 games, a level of carelessness last seen in January 2021 when he played<\/a> 16 games. Currently, he averages<\/a> 4.0 turnovers per game, ranking fifth<\/a> in the league. While high-usage superstars often top turnover lists, many of LeBron’s errors seem avoidable.\u00a0The Lakers<\/a>\u00a0cannot afford these mistakes. Careless turnovers have proven costly, especially against elite competition, as seen in their recent losses.<\/p>\n

Age and Fatigue Contribute to Mistakes<\/h3>\n

LeBron\u2019s struggles are partly linked to his age and workload. He is playing in his 22nd NBA season and will turn 40 in December. Despite his exceptional conditioning, fatigue has visibly affected his focus and decision-making. LeBron<\/a> averages 35.1 minutes per game, the second most on the Lakers<\/a>. This high workload contributes to mental lapses and unforced errors. Even the smartest basketball mind can falter under fatigue, and LeBron is no exception.<\/p>\n

Reducing his minutes could help him maintain energy and sharpness throughout the season. Steve Kerr’s<\/a> management of Stephen Curry<\/a> provides a clear example. Curry averages 29.7 minutes per game, sacrificing some scoring to preserve his performance across 82 games. While the Warriors<\/a> boast a deeper roster than the Lakers, a similar approach could benefit LeBron.<\/p>\n

An Off-Ball Role Could Help<\/h3>\n

LeBron\u2019s transition to a less ball-dominant role offers another potential solution. Despite having the lowest usage rate<\/a>\u00a0of his career at 26.8%, he remains prone to turnovers when facing on-ball defenders.<\/p>\n

Currently, LeBron plays at the third-highest pace<\/a> of his career, which suits the Lakers<\/a>‘ seventh-ranked offensive rating<\/a>. His dominance in transition remains a key strength. However, his time holding the ball could be reduced further.<\/p>\n

Increasing his off-ball activity could lower his turnover rate while enhancing his scoring efficiency. Currently, 47.8<\/a>% of LeBron\u2019s baskets are assisted, the third-highest rate of his career. This number could rise to above 50%, allowing him to focus on his strengths rather than forcing plays.<\/p>\n

Learning from Curry\u2019s Playbook<\/h3>\n

Curry\u2019s playstyle offers a roadmap for LeBron. This season, 54.8<\/a>% of Curry’s baskets are assisted the second-highest rate of his career. During the 2018-19 season, Curry averaged 27.3 points per game with the highest assisted basket rate of his career. So having more shots be assisted doesn’t necessarily mean LeBron\u2019s scoring has to drop off a cliff.<\/p>\n

Similarly, LeBron could rely more on his teammates to create opportunities for him. By embracing this approach, he can conserve energy and reduce turnovers while continuing to impact games offensively.<\/p>\n

LeBron James Can Use His Strengths To Limit Turnovers<\/h3>\n

LeBron<\/a> remains one of the most dominant<\/a> players in the league, but adapting to his age is essential. Reducing his minutes and focusing on off-ball play can address his recent struggles.\u00a0For the Lakers to maximize their potential, they must balance LeBron’s brilliance with strategic adjustments. Learning from Curry\u2019s success might be the key to overcoming this troubling stretch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LeBron James is enduring one of the worst decision-making stretches of his legendary career. Over the past two-plus weeks, his turnovers have surged to concerning levels. James has committed four or more turnovers in nine straight games, including five or more in four consecutive contests. LeBron James’ Recent Worrying Turnovers Has a Curry-esque Solution In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":109987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,25,26],"tags":[49979,4710,38,48,528],"class_list":["post-109945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-warriors","category-lakers","tag-2024-25-nba-season","tag-advanced-stats","tag-lebron-james","tag-stephen-curry","tag-steve-kerr"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}