He doesn't.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...fending-lebron

"When he goes left
LeBron drives left on just over one-third (34 percent) of his isolation plays. When he goes left, his most common decision is to pull up for a jumper. It’s moderately effective, scoring on roughly 45 percent of his attempts

When he drives left AND attacks the basket, he is practically unstoppable, scoring on more than 85 percent of his plays, either from a made basket or free throws. On a points-per-play basis, James leads the NBA in drives to the basket when going left.

When he goes right
James' tendencies change when he goes right. Just as Jordan said, “when he goes right, he’s going to the bucket,” doing so on more than half of his drives.

However, he isn’t nearly as effective finishing at the rim going this direction. While still very good, his right drives to the basket “only” result in points roughly 60 percent of the time.

The Verdict
The numbers don’t agree with Jordan when it comes to James being in isolation.

Points Per Play Based On Decision
Score Pct<<
Drive left 1.14 60%
Drive right 0.96 48%
Jumper no drive 1.04 46%
>>Pct of plays that result in points

When James goes left, he averages more points per play than when he drives right.

When he drives left, James scores 60 percent of the time. That number dips below 50 percent if you can force him right or bait him into taking an early jumper. "

how is Lebron doing it under far more optimal conditions than jordan?

Jordan had a GOAT coach.
The rest of the Bulls are better than the Heat.
Wade is not in his prime, Pippen was.
League is arguably harder and D techniques on average are so much better than they were during Jordan's peak--this is IMO, i know most people don't agree with it.

If he came to Toronto and won a championship, this would be true.

as great as Jordan was, there was a ****ton of run good in there too, stuff like getting Rodman, both him and Pippen being healthy the entire time from 91-98 are unlikely events, and needed to happen for him to go 6-6

this is all really true, Heat's overall supporting cast is pretty weak compared to MJs when you think about it.

TRAIN WRECK DOG STRIKES AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please mods don't ban him, now that the finals are over we need him for entertainmentz.

Very illuminating. My eyes lie because LBJ going to the right driving to basket looks so much cooler. Thanks.

Congrats LeBron. You're getting closer.

pippen made the allstar game in 1990, the year before. i'm glad you are living with a technicality when clearly pippen was an allstar level player and a HOF'er. pippen also had made b2b all-D teams by 1991 finals was over.

If he doesnt get to 6 rings, he aint nuthin

Well he'll still be a somethin, a very good sumthin, just not the GOAT

i don't think there's a valid argument to be made that any team lebron has been on minus lebron was better than any of the bulls teams minus jordan. it just isn't. wade is a shell of himself and bosh is lol

but you can't really use that excuse for lebron. lebron could have gone to any team in basketball if he wanted to. he hand picked miami and hand picked the players he was going to play with. so he picked players to join at the hip that weren't as good as we thought they'd be, and could very well amount to dead weight next season onward. oh well. tough ****

if wade and bosh are on the heat next season i wouldn't regard them as the favorite for even a second. the bulls for 6 out of 8 years were a whale in a tear drop who no team had a real chance of dethroning. the heat are a big fish in a pond of big fishes

all of this is to say for all of the individual accolades lebron will finish with, does anyone really believe he can win 6 titles with the heat? i mean, i'd be shocked if he gets to 4. and if he can't, doesn't that automatically disqualify him from being the GOAT? and if he has to jump ship again wouldn't that also disqualify him from being the GOAT?

Honestly, bron has to 3peat at the very least for this to evolve into a serious discussion. After going through 2 game 7s I think they're vulnerable especially if d wade isn't healthy or deteriorates

Going to be fun when LeBron inexplicably wins another rang with an even more banged up Wade.

Labron gonna do an Oscar Robertson on 'roids next season.

Average 45-15-15.

Wouldnt be surprised if he actually tests positive for steroids/drugs at some point and this whole discussion is nuked

Just found this out. He writes left-handed but shoot right-handed? Wonder what's up with that.

So much poo flinging. I got a real question (not sure if it has been asked yet). LeBron isn't the greatest of all time at the moment, yet. Now say he retired tomorrow, where on the list would he be? Also where do you think he will end up (since he won't be retiring :P).

I think he is currently around 5th, and project him being 2nd.

2 and 1.

If you segment for 28 year olds he's probably 2 or 1 right now. If you segment by career maybe 4th right now with pace to hit 2 or 1 b/c of Jordan retiring twice.

This is a bigger slank than lebron has ever had. If lebron have up on his team like you gave up on everything you stand for... Mannn

Too soon for wiggz vs. MJ vs. Lebron GOAT thread?

He said when he was younger he tried shooting with his left and his right, and just ended up preferring his right, so he stuck with it. This isn't all that uncommon, somebody like Larry Bird was left handed as well.

How is that slank? I think LeBron can be a bitch on the court and was truly looking forward to him choking under the biggest possible spotlight in the nba and he thrived and had an awesome game. He was afraid to shoot the open shots he'd been getting all series and he came through. I still think he's overrated greatly and will never be GOAT, but I will give credit where it's due.

Overrated greatly, lol. If that's the case all of the GOATS are highly overrated.