Lakers Rethinking LeBron James’ 82-Game Ambition As Slump Deepens

December 3, 2024

The Los Angeles Lakers are facing a critical juncture just over a quarter into the season, and LeBron James is caught in the middle of it all.

As reported by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, James is enduring his worst outside shooting slump since his rookie year, while the Lakers struggle to find any semblance of consistency.

Monday night’s 109-80 drubbing at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves was just the latest example of a team still searching for its identity.

James, who turns 40 later this month and has now played a record 1,800 career games across the regular season and playoffs, went 4-of-16 from the field and 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.

That extended his brutal shooting streak to 0-for-19 from deep over the last four games, the worst stretch of his career since a rookie-year drought in 2003-04. For a player who has consistently reinvented himself as a shooter later in his career, this slump is jarring.

“It’s the rhythm,” James said, per McMenamin. “I just feel off rhythm the last few, three or four games.”

Coach JJ Redick acknowledged the challenge of managing James’ workload while balancing the star’s desire to play in all 82 games.

“I don’t know that’s in the best interest of him and us,” Redick said. “But if he’s feeling well and feeling good, then he should play. We obviously want to manage that as best we can.”

James’ struggles are compounded by those of the team. The Lakers have lost five of their last seven games, and their 80 points against Minnesota were the fewest since a blowout loss in 2017.

As McMenamin notes, James posted a team-worst minus-28 plus-minus on the night, and the Lakers have been outscored by 111 points with him on the court this season.

Anthony Davis, who also had a rough night with just 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting, called out the team’s lack of spacing.

“We are kind of on top of each other,” Davis said. “The spacing is bad.”

The Lakers sit at 12-9, eighth in the Western Conference, but both James and Davis were blunt in assessing the team’s inconsistency.

“Sometimes we look like a team that can compete with anyone, and sometimes we look like a team that’s not going to do anything this season,” Davis said.

James was even more succinct: “Our offense is nasty right now.”