Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James may be the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, but Hall of Famer Tim Hardaway doesn’t seem to think that James is the type of player that a team can count on as “that one guy that can make shots.”
Hardaway listed a number of players who, in his view, do have that quality, but he didn’t include James. He said of James, “When I need a basket, I can’t go to you.”
“Luka [Doncic] can’t stop nobody from making shots,” Hardaway said. “Now, if you got a team that can stop you from making shots and you go on the other end and you know you got that one guy that can make shots, like Luka, like Kobe [Bryant], like Michael [Jordan] — you see I didn’t name LeBron ’cause he can’t do it — but like Kyrie Irving, or like Steph [Curry], yeah, you know, I’m just telling the truth. When I need a basket, I can’t go to you. He could go to himself — who did he go to for game? Kyrie Irving.”
James has never been a score-only player on the offensive end, instead establishing himself as both a scorer and playmaker. While he’s scored the most points in NBA history, he’s also near the top of the list in assists. He’s No. 4 in the NBA history books in that category, putting him ahead of some legendary point guards.
He has actually earned the same number of scoring titles and assist titles during his NBA career (one each). Across his two-plus decades in the league, he has averaged 27.0 points per contest compared to 7.4 assists per game.
When deciding whether to take matters into his own hands as a scorer or create for his teammates, James, depending on the situation, probably picks whichever route gives him more confidence in winning.
But just because he is a multifaceted offensive player doesn’t mean he’s incapable of going and getting a bucket when needed. Some of the guys that Hardaway listed may have James beat when it comes to iso ball, but the 40-year-old has certainly had his fair share of games over the years where he’s carried his team as a scorer.
Either way, the Lakers don’t really have to worry too much about whether James is a “go get a bucket” type of player now that they have Doncic. The ball will certainly still find James’ hands in clutch situations, but if they’d rather go to Doncic when they desperately need to score, they will have that option.
