LeBron James is in a rare funk.
The Lakers star, who is nearly 40 years old, missed all of his last 19 3-pointers and scored just 10 points in Monday night's blowout loss to the Timberwolves.
James told reporters After the game, I knew that the only way to break out of my slump was to get back into my routine.
“That's everything,” James said when asked about his recent play. “It's the rhythm. I feel like the last few games, three or four games, we've been out of rhythm.”
James has scored fewer than 20 points in five of his last six games.
In all six of those games, James shot less than 45 percent from the field, his longest streak since his rookie season in 2004.
Overall, James' shooting numbers have taken a big hit this season.
He is scoring 22 points per game, his lowest shooting percentage since his rookie season at 48.2 percent, which is his lowest shooting percentage since his fourth NBA season in 2006-07.
At the same time, James has shown slight increases in rebounds (8.0 per game) and assists.
(9.1 per game).
How will he get out of his shooting slump?
James' answer was simple.
“Work. Just work. That's it,” he said.
Before the season, James expressed his desire to play in all 82 games in 2024-25.
But now he clearly hasn't made up his mind.
“That's the goal, but we'll see,” James said.
The Lakers are tied for the seventh seed in the Western Conference with the Suns at 12 wins and 9 losses.
However, their -2.9 net rating is the fourth-worst in the conference.
