Miami Heat: LeBron James, Doing LeBron James Things

In addition to winning a third straight NBA title, LeBron James has another three-peat in mind as the King is well on his way to a third straight Most Valuable Player trophy as he continues to make the NBA his own personal playground.

Miami’s offense currently ranks atop or near the top of offensive categories and that’s thanks in large to James, who is currently second in scoring with 27.3 points per game. But what’s even more impressive is the efficiency at which he is scoring those buckets because he is currently shooting a ridiculous 62.2 percent overall, making him third in the NBA behind centers Andre Drummond and DeAndre Jordan.

Those are numbers normally reserved for a big man and even then, those baskets are typically dunks and lay-ups. Plus, none of the players in the top five with LeBron are averaging more than 14.4 points per game nor attempting more than 9.1 field goals per game.

Although a little more than half his points come from within the paint, LeBron does his damage from all over the court. More than 25 percent of his points from mid-range, 11 percent and 16.5 percent from 3-point range to be exact. And to add a cherry on top, he is currently knocking down more than 50 percent of his shots from behind the arc, at 51.7 percent.

Here’s a look at James’ shot chart through 10 games.

Apparently he has also added yet another unstoppable move to his on-going repertoire of moves with a trademark Dirk Nowitzki, one-legged fade away which he demonstrated against the much smaller Monta Ellis.

After the game, LeBron was quick to let reporters know that it was a move done more out admiration than sending a message, stating that: “It was a show of respect; Dirk is one of my favorite guys and I took that from him. I don’t do it as well as him, though. He’s been doing it a lot longer than me.”

Dirk also acknowledged the brilliance of LeBron by saying that: “He’s worked so much on his three ball so you don’t want to just give him threes. And he’s so good at going to the basket you don’t want to just let him go to the basket.

“What you sometimes give up is the in-between game, but when he makes, that it’s tough to guard him because he can get to the basket at will.”

The only blemish in his offensive game is the free throws. James is currently shooting 77 percent from the foul line, which isn’t catastrophic, but it could certainly be better. But judging by how much the rest of his shooting has improved, I really wouldn’t put it past him to improve upon that particular category.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about LeBron James so far is the fact that he has been putting up such great numbers while struggling with back pains. Now the question is can he maintain that sort of scoring form for the rest of season? And if so, how do you even begin to stop him?

Moreover, even if you do somehow manage to corral this beast of a man, LeBron is that unselfish and that good of a passer he can find the open man and dissect the defense with pin point accurate passes as illustrated by his 6.9 assists per game, which is good enough for 12th in the NBA.

James–along with Blake Griffin–was named last week’s Player of the Week after averaging 70.2 percent from the field, 62.5 percent from 3-point range and 81.0 percent from the foul line on his way to 34 points per game. That included a 39-point masterpiece against the Dallas Mavericks in Miami where he went 14-for-18 from the field. He also added six rebounds and  four assists.

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