King James Gospel
Fansided

LeBron James Sets Career-Highs

By Quenton S. Albertie

Apr 5, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) passes against the Boston Celtics in the first quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 5, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) passes against the Boston Celtics in the first quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next
Feb 4, 2017; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) steals the ball from Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the second half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 4, 2017; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) steals the ball from Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the second half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /

Turnovers Per Game

If it looked like LeBron James was turning the ball over a lot this season, well, it’s because he was. James turned the ball over a career-high 4.1 times per game in 2016-2017. His previous career-high of 3.9 turnovers per game was set in 2014-2015, James’ first season back with the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, it’s generally understood that a lot of those turnovers were due to James getting used to new personnel after spending the past four seasons with the Miami Heat.

This season, some of James’ turnovers are simply a function of his role as the primary ball-handler and his high usage rate (30.0 percent). However, some was simply due to James making predictable kickouts to shooters that were intercepted as defenders jumped the passing lane or James being stripped on the drive. In fact, most of James’ turnovers this season were due to him simply losing the ball.

Lost Ball Turnovers

In the 2016-2017 season, James lost the ball (getting stripped, losing the handle of the ball) 204 times. To put that in perspective of how much James lost the ball this season, his previous career-high was 85 and set in the 2010-2011 season. Only John Wall (229), James Harden (331) and Russell Westbrook (328) had more lost ball turnovers than James this season.