Many NBA players have shifted their emphasis to teaching in some form or another by the age of 38.
So, it appears, has Lakers forward LeBron James. He just doesn’t have to do it while wearing a quarter zip.
During the championship of the NBA’s in-season tournament Saturday evening between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Indiana Pacers, James demonstrated his coaching abilities while mic’d up for ABC. The all-time leading scorer was filmed instructing forward Anthony Davis on how to best attack Indiana center Myles Turner.
“He’s a shot-blocker, so you wanna try to create space when you go out here,” James said. “Take one more dribble. Go to his chest first. That alleviates his height.”
The show then turned to Davis performing nearly exactly what James had instructed.
“Well, I think AD listens to LeBron,” color commentator and former coach Doc Rivers deadpanned.
James has long been revered across the league for his basketball IQ as much as his playing acumen.
“There’s a lot of people in the league with LeBron’s body,” Rivers, then the coach of the Clippers, told SI in March 2020. “There’s no one in the league with his brain.”
