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| Washington Wizards v/s Miami Heat December 18, 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
After a recent Miami Heat practice in Washington, Ray Allen told the coaching staff he was skipping the bus ride and running back to the hotel.
LeBron James' ears perked up.
With that, the three-time NBA MVP went looking for his running shoes.
"LeBron said, `If you're going to do that, I'm going to do that too. I'm not going to be outdone by somebody else. I'm going to run,"' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "So he gets very competitive with things like that. If other people are working on their game, he takes notice."
That approach must be working. James' game -- already considered among the best in the NBA -- might be better than ever right now.
He's made 37 of his last 47 shots over his last 111 minutes, a torrid 79-percent clip. For the season, he's shooting a career-best 56 percent so far, easily on pace for the sixth straight season of improvement in that department. His 3-point shooting, at 42 percent this season, is much improved. He's shooting 70 percent inside the paint.
"I want to continue to push the button, continue to get better, maximize my potential and not waste an opportunity," James said.
The numbers go on and on. He's averaging 26.9 points this season. According to STATS LLC, only five players in NBA history have averaged that many points while shooting at least 56 percent over a full season. Maybe that's why Heat guard Dwyane Wade marvels when talking about James these days, saying "every year, it seems like he does the amazing."
"Numbers don't lie," James said.
At least, they don't in this case. After winning his third MVP award, second Olympic gold medal and first NBA championship, James said he wanted to get even better.
"It's kind of like, where is the bar for this guy? Does he have a bar?" Wade said. "And I'm glad that he's doing all this while he's in a Miami Heat uniform."
http://www.nba.com/2013/news/02/09/heat-lebrons-numbers.ap/index.html
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