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LeBron lacks the killer instinct, or Kidd’s last laugh

by on Jun. 09, 2011, under Uncategorized

By Brad Allis

Somewhere M.J. is shaking his head. Somewhere Kobe is chuckling. Somewhere Russell is counting his rings and looking confused at the screen.

Three of the greatest winners in NBA history know LeBron is not one of them. Not yet, and if he does not make some fundamental changes to his game, he never will be.

Never mind that Dirk Nowitzki has outscored him 52-11 in the fourth quarter, including an 8-2 advantage in game five. That is an issue, a huge issue, but not the worst part of it.

The issue is that James lacks a killer instinct, especially when it comes to exploiting a weakness.

If Jordan or Kobe found a weakness they exploited it. Over and over. This was not just true in the playoffs, but in life. Jordan and Kobe were never worried about being liked, only being great.

If they had their own weakness they got rid of it. Jordan went from being a mediocre shooter, to one of the best jump shooters in the game. He later added a number of post moves, when flying to the hole was no longer his great strength.

The great winners were always developing and getting better. Dwight Howard got sick of hearing about how he was a below average offensive player and spent the summer working out with Hakeem.

Kobe and Jordan lived in the gym, changing their games.

Dirk was once known for being soft and struggling late in games. Think he’s soft now? That one-footed fade-away is his money shot, nearly impossible to defend, but as evidenced in game two and game four, if he sees a mismatch he’ll exploit it. In both cases, with the game on the line, he had a big man defending him. He eschewed the jumper, and took the ball to the hole for go-ahead lay-ups.

The Mavs won both games.

With James shrinking in the fourth quarter, the Mavs dared to defend him with Jason Kidd. Kidd is four inches shorter, at least 40 pounds lighter and 11 years older, and slower. So what did LeBron do? Settled for jumpers, and not many of them at that.

If Kobe got matched up with Kidd he would take him to the hole over and over until the opposing coach made the switch. Kobe, or half a dozen of other great wings, would either blow by him or post him up. If you put a player who was four inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter, Kobe would exploit it over and over.

Guarding LeBron with Kidd would be like guarding Kobe with Steve Nash, it just shouldn’t work. But it did.

James scored two points in the fourth quarter. He should be able to run right by Kidd, who even in his prime was not a great defender. James being over 250 pounds, compared to Kidd’s 210, should be able to just back him down and muscle him.

He never tried.

If you tried to guard Jordan with Isaiah Thomas, he’d laugh at you. If you tried to guard Larry Bird with Andrew Toney, he’d take advantage of it for days.

Rick Carlisle was able to put Jason Kidd on LeBron James and now heads to Miami up three games to two.

The Heat may still win the championship, but they are a work in progress. I’d argue that James has as many physical gifts of any player in the history of the NBA, but he refuses to use them. Why he has not developed a pure post game baffles me. He is almost the same size as Karl Malone. Sure Malone had a nice jumper, but he is the NBA’s second all-time leading scorer because he could score in the post. Well that and the pick and roll.

LeBron has obviously tried to become Magic Johnson. He is clearly trying to be a facilitator, a passer. That is great, but Johnson had a killer instinct. He was great in the post. The Showtime Lakers practically invented posting up the point guard (something ironically, Kidd is very adept at). Magic was another player who kept adjusting his game.

For James it is not a case of not working hard, he’s a worker. It is a case of working smart. Win or lose, James should be working with a big man coach this summer and learn post-up moves.

That’s what the winners do. That’s what someone with a killer instinct does.

Can LeBron become that guy?

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  • James

    I don’t know why people are under the impression that Lebron James is a hard worker. It doesn’t really show up in his game. To me he relies heavily on his over the top athletic gifts but no one, not even King James can depend entirely on that. At some point you have to get in the gym and work and I don’t mean sit out and lob three pointers at the basket lazily rather work on your handle or pull up at game speed.  Lebron James has displayed really no ability to get to the whole effectively other than when the refs bail him out for barreling head first into defenders. It has actually become more and more apparent in the last three years but none more so than this year as he has been unable or elected to forego attempting to get the basket altogether this series. He doesn’t have a killer instinct not because it isn’t ingrained within him but because he  lacks the willingness and motivation to work which instills that killer instinct in a player.

    • John

      I’ve been saying that this whole time. 

      Everyone keeps saying Lebron is a best all around player. I don’t know how someone could be possibly “all around” or “complete” when they’re offensive repertoire is so limited. Lebron’s offense is always, within 5 feet away from the hoop and facing foward only.  He must know that he cannot keep doing the only thing he’s good at.  Yet he keeps squandering his summers partying his ass off, jerking off team owners, and antagonizing an entire nation or a planet. 

      If there is a basketball skillset from A through E, never settle for just A and B. Work on the other things too. Lebron keeps ignoring that. Do some film study to analyze everyone else’s move. Bryant obsessively absorbed West, Magic, and Baylor just to name a few. 

      Only 2 players in history to be “complete.” Jordan perfected the skills of a basketball player and Bryant followed. 

      Lebron is more of an Allen Iverson with his stubborn will to stick to HIS way only. Turning 27 by the beginning of 2012, he’ll have a few more years of athletic peak. 

      All and all, I’m amazed how he gets to be called the best player with

      bad mid range Js
      bad long Js
      bad foot work
      lack of post
      non-existent clutch 
      absence of killer instinct 

  • latoya

    I’m not a Lebron fan, but I gotta say that I’m getting tired of people saying he is not a great player. The players you mentioned above did not win it all right away. There was a growth process they had to go through before it finally happened from them. Lebron has all of the tools but he needs to eat a huge slice of humble pie, I think, before he can move to the next level of winning a championship. One last note- you should probably delete that whole section about how Kobe would take Kidd in a match up. I don’t know if you just started watching the playoffs, but these 2 have already went head to head this year and as the primary defender Kidd kept Kobe to his lowest production totals in 10 yrs.  Kidd’s defense also disrupted Westbrook and Durant last series. You really should review those type of things before you try to diss someone (Lebron) or discredit someone’s game (Kidd).

  • Kidd

    I think the writer is forgetting that Kidd, as old as he is, did cover Kobe this year and Kobe had a lot of problems scoring on him. The only issue is Kobe is aging as well. Lebron is much younger and should not have the same problems as Kobe.

  • HH

    Where are you getting this Kobe vs. Kidd thing? Please read carefully. It’s Kobe vs. Nash. Therefore, your entire argument is void. He compared Kobe with Nash to Lebron with Kidd because Lebron is a better athlete, especially now, compared to Kobe. Shaky analogy aside, his point was that Lebron should be able to dominate Kidd as Kobe definitely would with Nash.
    On a side note, I definitely do agree with the notion that Lebron does not work as hard as the greats, partly due to his mentality (lack of killer instinct) and his immaturity. He believes himself to already be the best and unfortunately, so far he has been in the regular season without needing to hone his skills as the greats did. However, this lack of commitment is showing up in the playoffs. I really don’t know where the idea that Lebron works hard came from.
    If Lebron ever decides to start acting like an adult and a committed basketball player instead of blowing massive amounts of money and time to spend with his entourage, he will truly be a force to reckoned with. Unfortunately, I don’t ever see that day coming for him until it’s too late. Unlike Kobe, I don’t think he will learn to or even try to shape his game around his inevitable physical decline. As a result, there should be no association between Lebron and MJ for now (from what we’ve seen so far).

  • wildcat dad

    If you’re going to make commentsabout defensive abilities, at least get it right! Jason Kidd is not who he used to be defensively, but he’s still a wilely, clever defender. Your statement about him not having been a much of a defender even in his younger days discredits you as an evaluater. No your player history before downgrading the old-timer. Here is a quick look at the game’s top defensive guards, both shooting and point. Here is my call:
    1.Sidney Moncrief
    2.Michael Jordan
    3.Joe Dumars
    4.Gary Payton
    5.Dennis Johnson
    Honorable Mention: Jerry West, Walt Frazier, Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, Alvin Robertson and Michael Cooper

  • bradallis

    In my mind Kidd has always been a feast or famine defender. He was amazing getting steals but could also get torched. “Wiley” is a great description for his game. Kidd was usually the smartest player on the floor and anticipated passes very well. To me he was never a lockdown guy and not a guy who defended bigger players particularly well.

    Whatever your opinions of Kidd are to me there is no way he should stymie James. There is no reason for James to settle for jumpers and not exploit the size difference.

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