Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has truly evolved offensively over his 20 years in the NBA, as is to be expected with a career spanning that length of time. One of the biggest criticisms early on in LeBron’s career was his lack of a post-up game, but as Lakers fans know all too well now, he can operate just fine on the block and regularly employs his fadeaway jumper.
That fadeaway shot is a signature move of many throughout the history of the NBA, but it namely grew to fame from Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan. Of course, the late, great Lakers legend Kobe Bryant also became very much known for the shot as he emulated Jordan, and as it turns out, LeBron is doing the same.
In an interview with Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group, LeBron spoke about his fadeaway jumper, calling it unguardable and noting that he shoots them because that’s what he grew up watching Jordan do:
“I literally shoot fadeaway shots because of Michael Jordan, because I watched him my whole life shooting that fadeaway shot,” said James, who is now 36 points from breaking Abdul-Jabbar’s record. “My shot, it’s totally different, but it’s an unguardable shot. I can’t emulate it because we have different forms, different body types, things of that nature, but Michael Jordan for sure.”
As James noted, he and Jordan have completely different body types and physical builds so to completely emulate the fadeaway in the way that Kobe did is impossible. But the Lakers star has figured out how to make it work for him and he is able to get the shot off in basically any situation.
Because of LeBron’s size and physicality, he is able to knock the defender back on his heels more often than not and create that necessary space to get his shot off against anyone. The defense knows what’s coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier to stop as LeBron regularly gets buckets from it.
No one, LeBron included, would consider this his signature shot, but he undoubtedly mastered it to the point where he can employ it against any defense, and it is responsible for a whole lot of his points throughout his career.
Lakers’ LeBron James compares scoring record to baseball’s home run record
Thanks to that fade away, among many other moves in his repertoire, James is soon to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who has held the record for nearly 40 years. In reflecting on the record itself, LeBron compared it to that of Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record in baseball.
James noted that both records seemed like they would never be broken with many all-time greats never coming close. But following along in that chase to break the record was something extremely fun and joyous overall.
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