In case you didn’t already know, LeBron James is pretty conscious about his image, legacy, and accomplishments. Naturally, he cares about his statistics and notices when they’re dropping. He mentioned that to the media on Monday.
“I’m getting tired of sitting down in the fourth quarter, personally,” James reportedly said, jokingly. “It’s messing up my averages.”
The Heat haven’t played a truly close game since beating the Bulls 97-93 on January 29th (they’ve gone 10-2 since then). LeBron has scored in the teens three of those games and taken fewer than 20 shots in all but two of them.
“We haven’t had one in a while, but we’ve had enough together,” James said in response to concerns that they haven’t been tested.
It’s difficult to comment on what LeBron said without having full context, but it seems like he’s planting a seed in the media’s head. He’s trying to remind everyone who says that Kobe averages more points per game that he’s playing less. LeBron is also shooting a career high in field goal and three point percentages, and he’s averaging the most rebounds of his career. He’s having a ridiculous statistical year and should still be the favorite for MVP, even if he’s sitting out late in games (which detractors will probably say helps his stats).
