Miami Heat forward, LeBron James exorcised many demons during this past NBA season. James averaged 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game during the regular season en route to acquiring his third career MVP award. During the postseason, he averaged 30.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game and led the Heat to the NBA championship, the first NBA title of his career. James stepped up big for the Heat in the playoffs at every opportunity and also captured NBA Finals MVP honors, becoming the first player since Tim Duncan (2002-03) to win the regular season and NBA Finals MVP awards during the same year.
A critical development arose for the Miami Heat during their second round playoff series versus the Indiana Pacers. Chris Bosh suffered an injury during Game 1 of the series and the already-thin Heat front-court became even thinner. James was forced to play more minutes at the power forward position and in my opinion, that development eventually helped the team win the title. By playing a large amount of minutes at the power forward position, James was able to take further advantage of his tremendous versatility on the basketball court.
That versatility was on full display in the NBA Finals versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. James was effective in a variety of different ways versus a variety of defenders. Against smaller defenders such as Kevin Durant and Thabo Sefolosha, James showcased an effective low post game. Against bigger defenders like Perkins and Serge Ibaka, James showed the ability to attack from the perimeter and get to the basket. But more importantly, his versatility allowed more opportunities for his teammates to be effective as the Heat received much needed contributions from their role players throughout the series.
James is also further showcasing his versatile game on the world stage as he is helping lead the mens USA Basketball team as they compete for a gold medal. Prior to their quarterfinal game versus Australia, James was averaging 11.6 points, 4.6 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game in the five games that the team had played. Against Australia, James became the first USA player in Olympic history to record a triple-double, finishing the game with 11 points, 11 assists, and 14 rebounds.
On the Olympic team James has spent time at both forward positions and center. As the Miami Heat move forward, their coach and front office have begun to adopt a “position-less” approach to their team – an approach that is a direct result of LeBron’s versatility. Throughout his career, many basketball pundits have tried to find a position label for LeBron James. All labels from small forward to power forward, from point forward to hybrid forward, have been placed on James throughout his career.
However, James has proved throughout this year that the best position for him may be no position at all.
