The race for the scoring title saw a nail-biting finish as Joel Embiid took the title home. It was cutthroat between him, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. However, a stretch of dominating performances saw Embiid beat the King to the title. During a recent interview, LeBron destroyed this achievement by revealing his goals for the next season.
Joel Embiid made history becoming the first center to win the scoring title since Shaquille O’Neal. But there were many complaints about his frequent trip to the free-throw line.
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In addition, his partner James Harden has also been subject to similar treatment. But for LeBron, his attempts were almost half that of Embiid. Hence, James made his mission for next season very clear.
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With a slight dig at Embiid and Harden, James said his goal is to fool the referees.
LeBron James wants the Embiid treatment
LeBron came in only second to Joel Embiid by one of the closest margins. Putting up 30 points per game, the King looked nearly unstoppable this season. Despite that, Embiid pushed through and won the scoring title to himself. But a major point of difference came in their free-throw attempts. While Embiid leads the NBA with nearly 12, LeBron only averaged 6 free throws per game. Looking at this LeBron revealed his goal.
He said: “I want to get to the free-throw line. I want to learn how to trick the refs.”
LeBron James on his goals next season:
“I want to get to the free-throw line. I want to learn how to trick the refs.”
😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/ft6DYfNCmn
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) April 11, 2022
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It seems odd to see LeBron get fewer free throws than Embiid. Both are aggressive players who score the majority of their points at the rim. In addition, they both take a lot of contact from the defenders. So why does Embiid get more calls?
This comes from the number of threes LeBron has attempted this season. While he is a ferocious finisher at the rim, James averages 8 three attempts per game as compared to Embiid’s 3.7.
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Joel makes his offensive living from the mid-range and post moves. He has mastered the art of attracting fouls and getting to the line. While Harden has had his struggles in making shots, even the Beard is skilled at getting to the line. Hence, while James enjoyed his most aggressive season, he did much more damage from beyond the arc than in any of his previous seasons.
Do you think Joel Embiid and James Harden get unnecessary calls? Let us know in the comments below.