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In this episode of The Big NumberTom Haberstroh and Dan Devine dive deep into the numbers to try and figure out how 39-year-old LeBron James is having such a great season for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The children start with the big number, which is 826 this week. That’s the number of 3-point shots LeBron James has made since joining the Lakers. If you don’t think that’s much, tune in to hear which Hall of Fame players have never made that many 3-point shots in their entire career.
But it’s the performance of LeBron’s season that really caught the attention of both Tom and Dan. He is currently posting career highs in points created with 36, points scored on plays where LeBron is in the pick-and-roll and percentage of his baskets that are assisted.
The success of the 10-4 Lakers, as well as the success of rookie forward Dalton Knecht, can be directly attributed to the increased efficiency and skill of LeBron James, who turns 40 in about six weeks. That’s crazy. Is there a case to be made that he is having his most impressive season yet?
Finally, Tom wrote a piece for Yahoo Sports wondering if making three-point dunks would shift the NBA back to offensive diversity and away from every team trying to copy the Boston Celtics. He talks it over with Dan to see if it would be feasible and, if not, what other plans might make sense.
(2:05) The Big Number: 826
(17:34) The Small Numbers: 47.3
(19:54) The Small Numbers: 49.2%
(22:37) The Small Numbers: 1.19
(27:32) The Small Numbers: +15.5
(32:49) Over/under scoreboard update
(33:37) Should the NBA make dunks worth 3 points?
🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube
Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts
