The Los Angeles Lakers seem to be moving ahead with Russell Westbrook on their squad for the 2022-23 season. Even though the Lakers gave up depth to acquire Patrick Beverley, and many assumed another move might be on the cards to get some wing depth on the roster, recent reports from the Lakers camp suggest Westbrook will stay a Laker for now.
People are dying to see the NBA return so fans can start watching the results of this crazy offseason on the court. One of the main things people have talked about is how LeBron will be able to play after a long offseason to recover from last season’s struggles. He has been making a run on the pro-am circuit, but after Chet Holmgren’s injury at the Crawsover, he may shut it down until the season resumes.
Despite the work LeBron has put into his game, Skip Bayless attacked him over Twitter by criticizing LeBron’s free throw shooting from last season. In addition, he compared LeBron’s lack of free throw shooting to be just as damaging as Russell ‘Westbrick’.
I keep hearing LeBron is "in the lab." He'd better be working on free-throw shooting. He took the 15th most in the NBA last season, ranked only 86th in FT %. Just killed the Lakers. Almost as damaging as Westbrick.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) August 29, 2022
Regardless of what the numbers say, LeBron was the most impactful jump shooter on the Lakers last season, just ahead of Malik Monk. Monk is a straight-up scorer, and LeBron was keeping pace with the best in the world with his scoring ability in 21-22.
Free throw shooting has been a hole in LBJ’s game ever since he entered the NBA, so it would be tough for him to make massive strides on that front over one offseason.
If he can even make free throws at a 70% clip or more, the Lakers will be fine. LeBron has aged quite a bit and isn’t as proficient at getting to the line, but it is crucial that he makes the shots that he does get at the line.
James took a massive step last season in being a better free throw shooter by averaging 75.8% from the line, an almost 7% increase from the 20-21 season. His career free throw percentage is 73.4%, so LeBron should aim at staying above that number. If he can consistently convert the easiest shot in basketball, the Lakers will be better off for it.
