We get so used to LeBron James dominating when he’s on the court, there are all sorts of rumors and innuendoes when he doesn’t. After starting the season 1-3, this Cavs super team — who Vegas awarded the best title odds before the 2014-15 season tipped off — is back in the driver’s seat after a brilliant 118-111 win over the visiting Pelicans last night. Except, James didn’t get the triple-double most have reported.
Before we get into ‘Bron’s game, lets take a look at the mixup by the NBA statisticians. James’ seventh assist appeared to have come after a rebound and outlet to Kyrie Irving, which he took for a reverse layup. As reddit’s Timi093 points out, it’s really Tristan Thompson who got the board and fed the outlet to Irving:
Even taking that mistake into account, a lot of the assists awarded players these days don’t look anything like what was deemed an assist just a decade ago – and that generational divide was extremely evident when we looked at film of every one of LeBron’s assists to check on the redditor’s claim. But lets not get caught up in our cranky disagreements with what constitutes a latter-day assist. This pretty ‘Bron bounce pass to Kyrie cutting backdoor IS an assist, and a pretty spectacular one:
So is this pocket pass to Andreson Varejao.
James is an incredible player, the best in the world. He can see the entire floor from his 6-8 perch and has close to photographic recall; he can muscle inside for a bucket with a 250-pound frame and he can stroke the three after improving his outside shooting over the last half decade.
He did not, however, accomplish a triple-double last night, despite the reports. It still doesn’t take anything away from how amazing he — and his Cavs teammates — played, but it was not his 38th career triple-double, though we doubt the NBA overturns the announcement.
(via reddit)
What do you think?
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