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Los Angeles Lakers star and NBA legend LeBron James divulged Wednesday that the one-on-one mentality some younger NBA players have tends to get under his skin.
Speaking on the Mind the Game podcast with former NBA guard JJ Redick (beginning at the 16:30 mark), James talked about the mindset and why it annoys him:
“Everyone now has a narrative of this thing called, ‘I have a bag,” or ‘He doesn’t have a bag.’ It bothers the f–k out of me. Everyone thinks just because you get a favorable matchup that it means it’s one-on-one time. ‘Let’s play ones.’ That’s all you hear the kids talk about now. …
“What the f–k is this? This is not Jordan vs. Bird Nintendo. It’s five-on-five, and yes, if you have an opportunity to have a favorable matchup and you can beat your man, but realize something. Most great teams are going to send help, and can you make the right reads? Can you instill confidence in your teammates to when you’ve scored twice in that favorable matchup, do you know that the double is coming? … Some guys don’t wanna learn and won’t learn because they just wanna play ones.”
James is in the conversation for being the greatest basketball player of all time, and it is primarily because he is as complete as anyone to ever play the game.
LeBron is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer with 40,225 career points, but he has also long been an elite distributor, ranking fourth in NBA history with 10,921 career assists.
James is arguably the most hyped prospect to ever enter the league, so he has had to deal with opposing teams making him their defensive focus ever since he was a rookie in 2003.
LeBron has managed to average 27.1 points per game during his career despite teams consistently sending help defense to guard him, but he also averages 7.4 assists and thrives at putting his teammates in positions to score.
At 39 years of age, James is the oldest active player in the NBA, so it comes as little surprise that he has an old-school mentality focused on team basketball rather than the iso-centric play that some younger players favor.
LeBron’s understanding of the game is likely a big reason he is still so productive in his 21st NBA season, as the 20-time All-Star is averaging 25.4 points, 8.1 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game this season for the Lakers.
James is a four-time NBA champion, NBA Finals MVP and NBA MVP, and he is living proof that a player can be a superstar without playing a selfish brand of basketball.