Lebron Plays A Little Worse Against His Friends

Chris Herring, FiveThirtyEight
Wed, 12/07/2016 - 5:20pm

With his four MVP awards and three NBA championships — the most recent of which capped a come-from-behind story for the ages and earned Cleveland its first major pro sports title in 52 years — LeBron James has set himself apart as the greatest player of his generation.But even as James has cemented his legacy as one of the best ever, one thing has bedeviled him in recent years: He’s often struggled, despite expending more energy than usual, when playing against his friends.Over the previous five seasons, James has shot beneath his lofty standards when squaring off against New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony — his buddy, who he’ll face tonight at Madison Square Garden — and Los Angeles Clippers floor general Chris Paul.In four of the past five seasons — going back to 2011-12, which was Anthony’s first full campaign with the Knicks and Paul’s first season with the Clippers — James has posted worse-than-average (for him) true shooting percentages against the Knicks and Clippers when Anthony and Paul were on the court, according to data from NBA.com.

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