Monday, July 23rd, 2012 at 10:40 am  |  67 responses

LeBron James Plans to Become More of a Post Player


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

For years, critics screamed for LeBron James to take advantage of his physical gifts and punish defenders in the low post.

This past season, James finally listened, and it helped lead to an NBA championship for the Miami Heat. Going forward, LeBron says that he will be in the post a lot more.

From a Q&A with HoopsHype:

You took fewer three-pointers this season. LJ: “I just changed my approach. I decided to stay away from the three-point line and going to the post. Make it a little bit easier for myself and for my teammates. I got more and more comfortable going down there and it was a success.” How do you think your game is going to evolve in upcoming seasons? Are you going to become more of a post player? LJ: “I can see that happening. I feel very comfortable down there, more comfortable than I’ve ever felt in my career. So I would see myself down there a lot more, and work my game from there.”

You became an unpopular player among many NBA fans once you signed with the Heat. Did you make a conscious effort to change that, to become more liked by people? LJ: “I don’t care if I’m more liked or more wanted by people. People are going to have opinions about me no matter what. For me, as a player, I’ll try to do what it takes to win, and off the court I am who I am. I can’t change what people think about me.” Do you feel people like you more now? LJ: “I don’t know. I don’t go searching for it.” […] How would you define your career in one word? LJ: “Not satisfied. I’m not done. I’m 27, 10 years in… I don’t have a word for my career right now.”

This is a natural (and logical) step for players to take as they evolve. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant posted up more and more as they aged, and those guys turned out OK.

LeBron James has the added advantage of seeking out the post before he loses any of his athletic gifts, which is very bad news for the rest of the League.

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  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    oh well i’m not disagreeing with that. they match up a lot better than they did 20 years ago, when training was in its infant stages.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    “they *just* match up a lot better” – my bad.

  • Basketball iQ

    Defenses aren’t smarter, the league added 3-sec in the lane & illegal defense to keep defenses(pistons) from doubling a guy(jordan) ALL game … those 2 rules changed the game & sold billions of tix since then

  • Basketball iQ

    Truthfully speaking, miami found this on accident. When chris bosh went down, miami needed buckets in the paint,lbj being the biggest player remaining player on the roster & most effective, they decided he’ll be the “post” … really tho give me avery bradley back in that bos /miami series, &its a choke job by miami but here we are and oh how great the king is.

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    Would ABradley have been the one checking LeBron? LeBron is the cat that killed BOS (33/11) not Wade.

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    Lebron post game is freight train lay ups. He does not have the footwork down low and he cannot hit a fadaway jumper to be a beast in the post. He just tries to muscle folks. Learn how to shoot a jumper first, because he was like 5 for 30 shooting outside the paint. This is straight sad for someone who people consider the best player in the NBA.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2011/10/nfl-players-advice-to-lebron-james-stick-to-basketball/ shutup

    @basketball IQ zones were taken out of the NBA game in the late 50′s early 60′s, and the rules NBK quoted came about 81-83 which were both before Jordan’s time. The reason I think teams are able to compete now internationally is a mix of the NBA softening and a lack of quality big men. Now most NBA big men come from abroad and FIBA lets a lot more contact go down low than the current NBA. In the past America was the producer of the vast majority of quality big men and the NBA was as physical if not more physical than its overseas counterpart

  • LeBrOn 4 MvP!

    my man, yal feel me, he got it on lockdown, brooklyn stand up! real talk

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgvwfvTcNl0 danpowers

    @shutup: i think the whole issue is more simple: international basketball just got better and developed during the last 20 years. there have allways been standout talents like divac & co and good basktball nations like the former eastern block countries etc. now conditioning training like weight lifting etc complement the good fundamental training and so on. the dream team of 92 didnt have to face such competition as the recent usa squads had to deal with. talent and toughnes wise theres no comparison to the original dream team tho, i think they would still whoop the floor with any squad, just not as clearly as they did in the early 90s

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2011/10/nfl-players-advice-to-lebron-james-stick-to-basketball/ shutup

    @dan the quality of big men on the team USA squad quite frankly isnt that good. The one center is an offensive liability, and a lacking one-on-one post defender. Then the rest of the “big” men are tweeners that lean more towards the SF side (Bosh, Love) I don’t disagree that the quality of international players has improved, but I feel the team quality of the USA squad has regressed. I believe toughness is a key component, both facets of it. Many of this years squad have questionable mental acuity, their physical gifts are above reproach. They are the most talented team in the world, but they are nowhere near the toughest. We also disagree on the use of “whoop” they beat Argentina but that was not a whooping, and I expect the Spain game to be even tighter. The 92 team was better constructed and more balanced, which was the ultimate reason they beat teams so easily. The 92 team would have beat this Argentina by over 30 points, simply on the fact that what Argentina was imposing on team USA wouldnt have worked against a more balanced team.

  • trueballer4life

    LBJ Is the best player since jordan, he is complete he can do anything.., all he to is come up with is a signature fade away jumper along some hakeem post moves which he has already..! he will be unstopable hes built like a brick wall!.. 1 through 5!..

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    Anybody who thinks the 1992 Dream Team without Zeke would beat this Argentina by 30pts, does not understand basketball. Argentina team has been playing together for years and play more as a team than any of the USA teams ever had. The 1992 Dream Team was playing teams comparable to women’s basketball teams. Those teams had little skill and was so in awe of the Dream Team, that they wanted signatures and pictures instead of beating them. The players now on other teams are NBA PLAYERS and have skill and want to beat the USA team BAD. No comparison of teams. I have the 1992 Dream Team on VHS and its funny how they won every game, but they were old and some times played better against them, than what people wan to say. Now Barkley would not be a force like he was back then and the defense would double MJ, most teams now have a defensive center play on other teams. Its funny people act like just because MJ was on the team, they would not lose. Just asking did MJ win a Ring every year in his Career no, so he can lose. I can make a statement MJ came up small in big games if you look at his shooting percentage, like what people say about Kobe in that game 7. Its funny, how MJ is so over-hyped on this site, he did lose, he did choke, he was a ball stopper, was not as great at defense like people state and he was a liar/cheat. MJ never cared about anyone but himself, or he would have stepped in on important social issues, instead he focused on how Republicans buy shoes or how people were getting killed for his cheap labor shoes.

  • pposse

    soo if the 92 team had Zeke then they would beat this Argentina team by 30?

  • follow-me-@G3RMAN_RAMOS

    LeBron is already the best player in the nba by far,so if he keeps improving…not 7,not 8,not 9…

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2011/10/nfl-players-advice-to-lebron-james-stick-to-basketball/ shutup

    Actually buddy my thoughts and comments rarely mentioned Jordan on this issue, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, and Barkley would decimate the undersized Argentina team, it just so happens team USA is even more undersized/out of balance. Clearly you don’t understand basketball. Honestly who cares about Zeke? that team had Magic and Stockton, two pretty good pg’s in their own right. Pippen would have shut down Ginobili and Luis Scola was not going to be the factor that he was.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2011/10/nfl-players-advice-to-lebron-james-stick-to-basketball/ shutup

    Point and case Spain has the best big men in the tourney and beat Argentina by 20.

  • Dankenstein

    Andddd USA beat Spain by 21.
    I rest my case.

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