The Luka Lakers Are Figuring It Out...
Thanks to LeBron's evolution from his heliocentric role into a 0.5 battering ram.
The morning I filled in for Adam Mares on the All-NBA podcast with Tim Legler, I watched Los Angeles lose to Charlotte. As I took notes and pulled clips, I could only feel disbelief at how clunky the Los Angeles offense looked with two players trying to play the same role: heliocentric alpha.
LeBron James and Luka Doncic have thrived in this role throughout their NBA careers. They’re the basketball version of grandmasters chess players. They’ve seen every coverage under the sun, can make every shot/read in the book, and they both know how to move the pieces around the basketball chessboard with precision and ease.
But like Highlander, there can be only one, and as to the question of who would be that one for this Los Angeles team, well… The 25-year-old generational talent with a long runway in front of him would always be the answer.
Players often say they want to win, but they really mean, “I want to win, but I want to do it playing my way.”
The Charlotte game felt like a line of demarcation for this team. Two heliocentric grandmaster chess players wouldn’t give them the best chance to win, so an evolution had to happen.
Two BIG things have stood out to me since that Charlotte game:
LeBron’s shift into a 0.5 Player
The Roberson Rule
LeBron’s Final Act:
LeBron James has shifted from the only role he’s ever known in the NBA into a 0.5 player1. This is a massive step for someone of his caliber; he’s undoubtedly one of the top players to play this game.
Since the clunky Charlotte game, Los Angeles has won four games in a row, three of which have featured both James and Doncic. In those three victories, James recorded his two lowest games of the season in average touch length and average dribbles per touch.
During the Los Angeles win over Denver, James set a season low for average touch length (2.892 seconds) and average dribbles taken per touch (1.83).
The Denver game was the only time during the 24/25 that he had been under three seconds per touch or two dribbles. Until the Los Angeles win over Minnesota, James again set a season low for average touch length (2.581 seconds) and average dribbles taken per touch (1.44).
The data indicates precisely what the eye test says: LeBron has shifted into the 0.5 player this team needed to reach its ceiling, and he and the Los Angeles Lakers are thriving!
LeBron James Closeouts:
Before Luka: 1.033 Points Per Chance (52nd Percentile)
After Luka: 1.351 Points Per Chance (87th Percentile)
LeBron Closeout attacks. Yes, that is Luka Garza trying to contain LeBron on a closeout… Good luck.
One of the most significant benefits of James relinquishing the highlander role to Doncic has been seeing his first three steps transition from then defensive end to offense. James no longer waits for every outlet pass to control the chess board; he knows Doncic sees the same picture he does, so he gets on his horse and goes!
LeBron wreaking havoc in transition.
James has long been one of the league's best, if not its best athlete. However, creating offense in the NBA takes energy, and that burden fell on James more times than not. But with Doncic in Los Angeles, the on-ball burden is gone, and LeBron’s athleticism has been unleashed every play they’re on the court together.
The Roberson Rule:
JJ Reddick is using the NBA regular season as a defensive lab experiment. One theory he’s been beta testing is Seth Partnow’s “Roberson Rule.”
The past week, Aaron Gordon, Russell Westbrook, Dante Exum, Naji Marshall, Jaden McDaniels, Jaylen Clark, and Tarrence Shannon Jr. have received Reddick's version of Partnow's Roberson Rule.
Here is the Roberson Rule in action for Los Angeles over the past three games.
One of the things I always tell agents, scouts, or front office members when discussing shooting is that volume matters. Yes, it’s great to be a 40% shooter from the three-point line, but if the player turns down open → semi-open shots to pass or drive into traffic, the percentage doesn’t matter because they can be put into a box defensively.
The Roberson Rule is that box.
Tweet via the All-NBA podcast.
Since January 15th, Los Angeles has been first in defensive rating, opponents’ points in the paint, and opponents’ FG%. The results are straightforward; the lab experiment is working.
Reddick is unwilling to concede gravity to players he doesn’t believe will shoot enough volume to beat them. Instead, he chooses to shrink the defensive shell and shift more gravity to players who can beat Los Angeles, like Jokic, Kyrie, and Anthony Edwards.
Ben Taylor showed what that extra gravity looks like when shifted towards a player (Jokic).
Even a few makes from Gordon and Westbrook didn’t shake his resolve in the Roberson Rule strategy; it takes volume. Your shooting gravity is not defined by your percentage but by a combination of three factors: Percentage, Volume, and Mechanics.
He knows that players who have never shot 15 threes in an NBA game don’t know how to deal with the emotional swings of missing nine threes and it still being a good thing for the team, and he’s betting on players not being able to step that far outside the Overton Window of volume.
Marzie Says Have A Good Weekend!!
It doesn't matter whether this was a coaching staff, FO, or other conversation. A player of LeBron James’s status is the only one who decides if something like this will fly. He could make life hell for everyone, but he’s not; he’s leaning all in.