-
Dave McMenamin, ESPN Staff Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — LeBron James is about to turn out to be the NBA’s all-time chief in regular-season minutes performed Thursday again in the identical metropolis the place he logged his first when the Los Angeles Lakers play the Sacramento Kings.
It will likely be one other accomplishment in a profession teeming with them for the four-time MVP, four-time champion and 20-time All-Star who additionally occurs to be the league’s all-time main scorer.
But James, 39, was not in a celebratory temper after Lakers shootaround Thursday morning. Rather, when requested in regards to the introduced modifications for the All-Star Game format in February, James lamented the state of the league.
“It’s not simply the All-Star Game. It’s our sport on the whole,” James mentioned. “There’s quite a lot of f—ing 3s being shot. So it is a larger dialog than simply the All-Star Game.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed criticism aimed on the enhance in 3-point quantity this week forward of the NBA Cup championship on Tuesday.
“The reply is sure, [we are having] many discussions in regards to the type of basketball [being played],” Silver mentioned. “I might not cut back it to a so-called 3-point capturing challenge. I believe we glance extra holistically on the ability degree on the ground, the range of the offense, the fan reception to the sport, the entire above.”
To provide some perspective as to only how a lot the 3-point shot has turn out to be a staple for NBA offenses, the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors averaged 31.6 3-point makes an attempt per sport — No. 1 within the league — en path to a 73-9 file. They would rank twenty ninth this season, with solely the Denver Nuggets trying fewer per sport (30.4). The defending champion Boston Celtics are first, averaging 51.1 3-point makes an attempt per sport, which might shatter the earlier staff data for 3-point makes an attempt in a season.
As for the All-Star Game, the league introduced this week that reasonably than have the standard East vs. West sport, and even have the groups drafted by the highest vote getters in every convention, there will likely be a spherical robin performed as an alternative.
The 24 All-Stars chosen will likely be cut up up into groups of eight and a fourth staff of eight will likely be comprised of gamers from the Rising Stars sport on Friday evening. Two groups will play in a single semifinal and the opposite two groups will play in one other semifinal, organising a 3rd championship sport between the winners. Each of the video games will likely be untimed and can finish when the primary staff reaches or surpasses 40 factors to win.
While James’ teammate, nine-time All-Star Anthony Davis mentioned, “I do not actually prefer it,” when requested in regards to the format change, James sounded extra open to it.
“Something needed to change,” James mentioned, alluding to final 12 months’s sport that featured 397 mixed, meaningless factors by the 2 groups.
“We’ll see, we’ll see once we get there,” he continued. “It’s totally different. Obviously anytime you make some kind of change it will be some buck again. I do not know. I imply, I’ve my concepts of what might presumably work. … You acquired to do one thing. Obviously, the final couple of years haven’t been a terrific All-Star Game that Sunday evening.”
James comes into Thursday with 57,437 profession regular-season minutes performed — 9 behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time mark of 57,446. However, should you rely the 35 minutes James performed within the NBA Cup championship in Las Vegas final 12 months, he has already handed Abdul-Jabbar’s mark. The league doesn’t rely the NBA Cup championship statistics towards regular-season or playoff data.
