Lakers News: LeBron James Is Thirst Tweeting About Rival Teams' Shooting Guards During Off-Days
Los Angeles Lakers All-NBA small forward LeBron James is keenly aware that his team cannot shoot from deep. The 0-3 Lakers are shooting a league-worst 21.2% of their 39 triple attempts per night.
So how has King James spend spending his time off? Why, celebrating the performances of two young sharpshooting guards that he'd probably really thrive with on the floor, of course.
As you'll see... the thirst is palpable.
Exhibit A: Anfernee Simons
Simons had an incredible shooting night during the 4-0 Trail Blazers' lopsided defeat of the supposedly title-contending Denver Nuggets Monday.
The 23-year-old kicked off the contest by starting the evening off shooting 8-of-8 (including 6-of-6 from long range) from the court.
Across 35:35 minutes (a team high) for the Trail Blazers, Simons shot 11-of-17 from the floor, including connecting on a whopping 7-of-12 from deep. He scored 29 points, passed for five assists, grabbed three rebounds, and added a steal and a block. He finished with a +14 plus-minus for the evening.
https://theathletic.com/3727843/2022/10/25/trail-blazers-anfernee-simons/
James faced off against Simons in a hard-fought near-victory on Sunday. Simons scored a more modest 12 points on a much-less-impressive 5-of-17 shooting from the floor against L.A.
Exhibit B: Jordan Poole
The Golden State Warriors' post-face punch Sixth Man of the Year stepped up after Klay Thompson received his first-ever ejection last night against the Phoenix Suns. Though the Warriors could not mount a comeback in time and wound up losing 134-105 in Phoenix, Poole did his darnedest to contribute. In just 27 minutes, the Michigan product went 6-of-12 from the floor (including 2-of-5 from behind the arc) and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe, finishing with 17 points, five dimes and two rebounds in the loss.
James may have been raving about this insane crossover move:
Beyond James or Davis for L.A., only Lonnie Walker IV is capable of snazzy midrange makes along these lines. But Walker isn't a volume three-point shooter at the level of Poole. This year for L.A., Walker is making just 17.6% of his 5.7 treys.
For the season, Poole is averaging 15 points a game (on .413/.333/.789 shooting splits), 5.8 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 boards. That three-point shooting number should improve as the year continues. The 6'4" wing shot 35.1% on 5.4 treys in 2020-21 and 36.4% on 7.6 triples last season.
Poole also had a pretty inefficient night against L.A. in the Warriors' 123-109 opening night win, also scoring 12 points on 4-of-15 field goal shooting.
Rob Pelinka, heed The Chosen One's clarion call, and get him some lasers!!
