Who Shoots The Fadeaway Jumper Better: Dirk Or LeBron?

In case people have forgotten over the last two years of LeBron James‘ dominance (two MVP’s and two Finals MVPS), Dirk Nowitzki was the last player to defeat him in a seven-game series. Since then, the Mavs plunged into the morass of the mid-tier after unloading most of their title-winning nucleus, and James ascended his seemingly preordained throne. But who shoots their fadeaway better?

If we’re being honest, nobody does it like Dirk, but LeBron — working harder than ever this offseason as the Heat look to 3-peat — looks pretty smooth here.

Dirk’s shot isn’t really a fadeaway in the below clip, but like we said, nobody makes a fallaway off one-foot look quite as easy as the 7-foot German. Advantage Dirk, but LeBron is getting very good at seemingly everything.

Last night was no exception even as Dirk scored 28 points on just 12 shots, going 9-of-10 from the charity stripe and 3-for-5 behind the three-point arc. LeBron was somehow better. The reigning MVP scored 39 points in a 110-104 Heat win at home by shooting a ridiculous 14-for-18 from the field. And he didn’t just dunk the ball 14 times, either; look at his shot chart!

And check out his hot night.

We love Dirk, but LeBron keeps getting better and that’s after he’s already won four of the last five MVP awards. So far this season, James’ shooting splits are .610/.517/.758 (fg/3pt/ft). That’s crazy.

Which player shoots the fadeaway better?

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