LeBron James: “This is the best I can go”

LeBron James believes he’s at the peak of his basketball powers, a pinnacle of prowess that has never been reached before.

Speaking with the Associated Press, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar forward LeBron James said he believes he’s playing the best brand of basketball that he ever has.

"“I’ve said it,” James said. “Obviously, I’ve had some unbelievable seasons before, but I’ve said it: This is the best I can go, just from a complete basketball player standpoint.”"

The declaration may draw some scoffs from those that follow the game and James’ career closely.

James is certainly playing the best offense of his career, effortlessly melding skill, athleticism, intelligence and experience on a nightly basis as he achieves statistical marvel after statistical marvel and breaks record after record.

The King is currently averaging 27.4 points per game, his highest since the 2009-2010 season. He averages 9.1 assists per game, a career-high. His offensive box plus-minus (7.5) is the highest it’s been since the 2013-2014 season. His value over replacement player (VORP) is 8.1, the highest it’s been since the 2012-2013 season. His true shooting percentage (62.3 percent) is the highest it’s been since the 2013-2014 season.

What about his 2008-2009 season in his first stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, though? What about his 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 seasons with the Miami Heat?

Those seasons where James’ physical prowess, shooting stroke, playmaking ability and basketball IQ allowed him to be dominant on both sides of the ball.

The criticism currently levied against James is that despite his encyclopedic knowledge of the game and guard skills enhancing, he’s declined just enough from a physical standpoint to not go all out on that end.

This criticism has some merit though it lacks context.

In terms of the bar he set for himself, James is averaging more steals (1.5) than he has since the 2014-2015 season, more blocks (0.9) than he has since the 2012-2013 season, has his highest block percentage (2.2 percent) since the 2008-2009 season, his second-highest defensive box plus-minus (2.2) since the 2012-2013 season and a career-high in defensive rebounds per game (7.4).

This season, James is a middling defender when defending in isolation (0.93 points per possession, 41st percentile) and pick-and-roll ball-handlers (0.85 points per possession, 48th percentile). This is mostly because opponents get off a lot of good looks from three against the King, as evidenced in the dramatic increases in their effective field goal percent (eFG%) compared to their traditional field goal percent as eFG% adjusts for threes. This is also why he’s near the bottom quintile guarding spot-up shooters (1.13 points per possession, 21st percentile).

However, James likes to zone his man to play the passing lanes and keep his eye on his teammates as a defensive anchor. As a result, he’s not often suffocating ball-handlers until crunch time, when his man is likely to take the shot himself rather than pass the ball. Consequentially, they have space to get off a good jump shot but not get around him.

Furthermore, defending the three-ball is a team-wide problem. Jeff Green is the only Cav in the top half of players guarding spot-up shooters (sorted by percentile).

Perhaps it’s part of the scheme to give ball-handlers and shooters so much room behind-the-arc. Without a dominant rim-protector in the paint or a bevy of high-motor defenders with athletic prowess, players are less apt to be aggressive defenders on the perimeter.

The Cavaliers don’t have the personnel for that type of defense but there are other issues to be considered as well.

At the beginning of the season and now, a rash of injuries aided the Cavaliers’ defensive deficiencies, with players unsure of where to rotate and where their help was going to come from.

James is the best player on his team and in the world but he’s still just one of 14 players on the roster. He’s still in a uniform and not a suit, despite all of the Coach LeBron jokes. He can cover up plenty of holes the Cavs have and he can play every position on the court but he can’t make the decisions for his teammates, just guide them as best he can.

Lastly, with his level of responsibility and the fact he plays the highest amount of minutes on both his team and in the league, asking James to go all-out on every possession in every game for every minute and still lead his team to and through the NBA Finals is not going to help keep the King fresh enough to lead his team to victory in the final minutes of a game or a season.

The times where they need him most. Especially without Kyrie Irving.

James may seem bionic but he’s human and everyone’s body has a breaking point. He’s certainly at fault for not going all out in closing out on certain plays but the issue isn’t as nearly as much of an indictment of James’ effort as it’s made out to be.

Nonetheless, since the trade deadline, James has held opponents to 43.6 percent shooting from the field, 2.2 percent less than their season average. For the season, opponents have shot 44.5 percent against James, 1.3 percent less than their season average.

James’ “lackluster” defense has been overblown and described without context, even by some astute basketball minds. He’s had points when he was more alert and energetic as a defender but he’s never made the game look so easy on offense while being an impact defender.

It’s hard to say James is at his peak because physically, he’s not. However, this is the most complete James has been as a player.

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*Unless otherwise referenced, all stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com