Gregg Popovich has a principle that has become an ideal that many coaches strive to impart to their players. “His accent is 0.5” Miles Turner explained while playing for Popovich on Team USA in 2019. “You have half a second, shoot, pass and go.” This is the basic concept. Whatever you are about to do, be it shooting, overtaking or driving, make the decision to do it in half a second. Don't hold the ball. Don't wait. Put pressure on the defense by making quick decisions.
This is a reasonable principle for the vast majority NBA players. This is not the one LeBron James ever really had to live. When you are arguably the greatest player of all time, you are allowed to go at your own pace. James in the half court tends to play relatively slowly, tapping the rock and scouting the defense before committing to an offensive plan. Last season, James held the ball for an average of 3.87 seconds per touch and averaged 2.92 dribbles per touch. At the peak of his Lakers career, those numbers were as high as 4.85 seconds per touch and 3.85 dribbles per touch.
This has never been a problem for Lakers a team that was built entirely around him, or any team that was built around him, for that matter. Almost until he was 40, there wasn't a player in the NBA you'd rather run an offense than James, so by all means, LeBron, play hard. This form of attack was extremely effective. It also probably wasn't sustainable for this new version of the Lakers.
Entering Tuesday night, Luka Doncic was averaging about 5.22 seconds per touch and 4.35 dribbles per touch. Again, there's nothing wrong with that when you generate as much as Doncic with slow possessions, but with Austin Reeves By holding the ball almost as long and dribbling the ball even more, the Lakers ran the very real risk of becoming stale offensively. Role players are harder to keep engaged when multiple players monopolize possession and waste time dribbling. The ball gains energy. The players move with him.
James seemed to recognize this in his surprisingly selfless season debut. This obviously reflected in his 12-pass count in the box, but picking up passes was never an issue for James. The “how” here matters as much as the result. James emphasized quick decision making and keeping the ball in motion, holding the ball for just 2.46 seconds per touch and dribbling the ball just 1.63 times per touch. Perhaps not half a second to decide, but much closer than James usually gets. For a team that ranks last in the league in assists per game, that energy has proven contagious. Lakers scored 140 points in win over Jazz Tuesday, despite only scoring 11 of 32 goals from deep.
It works so well because it's LeBron James. He is very aware of how he gets around the defense, so if he operates with a focus on quick decision-making, he knows exactly how the defense will react to the threat of his goal and therefore where the open pass will be. Take this quick pick and roll. One bypass. Jusuf Nurkic rises to screen level. James sneaks a pocket pass between him and Cody Williams.
It works because James knows the defense is more concerned about his downfall than Jaxson Hayes. This works even better when James isn't just a threat, but actively attacking in the moment. Nurkic, of course, looked away from the man following. Deandre Ayton. LeBron James goes at him.
It's one thing to do it on misses where transition is a given. James even made it a point to put pressure on the hit defense, catching Utah off guard by turning on the jets before they were ready. Keep your eyes peeled here. All 10 of them in a Jazz uniform are assigned to LeBron.
James has always made passes like this, but they became the focus of his first game of the season. Even when the game slowed down and he was dribbling in place, he seemed uncannily aware of where Ayton was. We need to make the big man happy.
James has a reputation as a fairly heliocentric ball player, someone who wants to make every decision and control every element of the game. But he was always much more of a chameleon. We're talking about one of the few players in league history who can actually play all five positions. He won championships with heavily used guards and unicorn big men. His superpower has always been his ability to tick whatever box his team needs, be it offense or defence, with or without the ball.
And what these Lakers need more than anything is a linker. Doncic and Reaves can handle most of the individual creativity, but they will do it in their own way. That's a lot of dribbling, a lot of shooting, and a lot of possessions where the role players are stationary. This is obviously effective for such good ball handlers, but risks affecting how everyone else plays. Doncic and Reaves can hit the rock, but everyone else needs to cut, cover, fly around the floor, defend.
Tuesday's version of James by the Lakers allowed for all of those opportunities while rewarding role players for performing role actions. He energized everyone and got them involved in making quick decisions, creating a needed contrast to the existing structure the Lakers had built.
James will become more comfortable playing his more standard, superstar style as he gets healthier. Obviously, the 40-year-old with sciatica is a work in progress. The average time and number of strokes per touch will increase. LeBron James won't suddenly become Boris Diaw. But if the debut was any indication, he has a good understanding of what this team has and what it needs. He fits into an already thriving squad rather than forcing it to conform to him. Even if he doesn't make half-second decisions, a slightly faster version of James will pay big dividends moving forward for the Lakers.
