The analytics revolution has taken over the NBA in recent seasons and LeBron James has a message for those advanced stats.
Save it.
Based on NBA tracking data, James has been moving at a glacial pace on the court by his standards. King James went into Monday night’s Game 4 win over the Boston Celtics averaging a speed of 3.64 mph in the series. That’s the slowest of any player in the Eastern Conference finals and is ranked above only Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia for slowest in the NBA playoffs.
When told of these numbers, however, James had a NSFW response.
“That’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard,” James told The Athletic. “That tracking bullshit can kiss my ass. The slowest guy? Get out of here.”
Much has been made about James’ ability to conserve energy while on the court this season, but the 33-year-old star thinks those advanced metrics don’t tell the story.
“Tell them to track how tired I am after the game, track that shit,” James said. “I’m No. 1 in the NBA on how tired I am after the game.”
James has appeared visibly tired multiple times during the Cavs’ postseason run, bringing credence to the notion that he is dragging the aging Cavs to a fourth straight NBA Finals.
It’s just at a slower speed than we’re accustomed to.
