LeBron James' shooting struggles explained: Why has Lakers star regressed after career high in 3-point % last year?

More often than not, the NBA GOAT debate carries little to no objectivity to it, but even the most passionate LeBron James hater agrees that he's one of the greatest ever.

James has spent millions upon millions to preserve his body, and his relentless work ethic, plus his privileged gene pool, have helped him stay at the top over two decades.

Still, nothing lasts forever, not even James' battle with Father Time. If anything, it seems like the soon-to-be 40-year-old is finally starting to lose some ground.

As he got older, some thought he would transition into a more jump-shooting style of play. James, however, has knocked down just four of his last 34 attempts from beyond the arc, and his regression from a career-best 3-point shooting season in 2023-24 has been worrisome.

With that in mind, we'll look at three reasons to explain what might be going on with him.

3 reasons why LeBron James' 3-point shooting regressed

#3 His team has regressed

The Lakers' decision to go with a first-year coach was met with skepticism. Nonetheless, given J.J. Redick's well-known love for analytics and spacing the floor, one would assume that they would be a better 3-point shooting team at the very least.

That hasn't been the case at all. The Lakers went from posting the eighth-highest 3-point shooting percentage in the league (37.7%) last season to 20th this season (34.9%). And that's despite taking just two more 3-pointers per game (33.4 this season to 31.4 last year).

The Lakers are still making roughly the same amount of triples (11.8 last year to 11.6 this season). They have pretty much the same personnel, so their shooting woes might have to do with scheming and shot selection.

#2 He's not getting any younger

LeBron James has played at the highest level for 22 years, so it's only normal to see that age is finally catching up with him. He's not being as aggressive as he was in the past, and that helps opposing defenses keep tabs on him in the perimeter.

His fast-break points per game are down to 4.3 this season, down from 5.1 last year and 6.2 before that. His efficiency has also been worse, currently ranking in the 54th percentile in points per possession in transition, which is a career-worst mark for him.

James is now shooting 67.9% in the restricted area, down from 73.3% last season, and he's down to just 9.3 drives per game, far below his career average of 14. Simply put, he's becoming less of a threat in the paint, so defenses can swarm him in the perimeter.

#1 Regression to the mean

Last but not least, it seems like that last season was an outlier, not the norm. He's never been the best shooter in the game by any means, never even cracking 80% from the free-throw line.

He won what most people believe to be his greatest championship by shooting 30% from three back in 2016, and he's a 34.8% career 3-point shooter. James has always been elite at almost every aspect of the game, yet long-range shooting is one of the few exceptions.