LeBron James has been shooting the lights out lately. It may be coincidence, or it may be that he got a little extra motivation from an Instagram post.
On December 29, NBA.com analyst John Schuhmann sent out a graphic showing that James had the lowest shooting percentage of any player with at least 240 attempts from outside of the paint, lower than the much-maligned Kobe Bryant.
The worst high-volume shooters from outside the paint, a list topped by LeBron James & Kobe Bryant. pic.twitter.com/Sn4CW6C9O7
— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) December 29, 2015
James admitted that he’d seen the graphic on Instagram, and he didn’t take it lying down.
“I actually saw on my Instagram feed that I was the worst-shooting player in the NBA,” James said Sunday after Cleveland’s win over Philadelphia, via Cleveland.com’s Chris Haynes. “I actually saw that when I woke up from a nap. I remember exactly when that was. Denver. Right before the Denver game, so I answered the call.”
Since then, James has been taking part in pregame shooting, and it seems to have paid off. According to Basketball Reference, James has shot 57.8 percent over his last six games, starting with that Denver game. He’s also 43.3 percent from three point range, and averaging 27.8 points per game. Basically, he’s been good – really good.
Is it as simple as motivation? Who knows, although the best definitely do find unique ways to motivate themselves even further. There’s no arguing with the results, though. Cleveland has won seven straight, and it’s largely thanks to James’s newly rediscovered midrange game.
