LeBron James trusts in Cam Reddish again, and this time it pays off in a big win for the Lakers

LeBron James trusts in Cam Reddish again, and this time it pays off in a big win for the Lakers

LeBron James has taken a lot of flack over the years from, as he says, “basketball savants who don’t know nothing about basketball” for passing to open teammates rather than forcing his shot in game-winning situations.

He did it again on Monday against the Miami Heat, sending a pass to Cam Reddish in the corner as Bam Adebayo came over to cut off his lane to the rim. Reddish, who at the time was 2 of 13 on 3s for the year, missed the potential game-winner, and LeBron was railed by critics for deferring, to a bad shooter no less, in crunch time.

Fast forward to Friday night. The Lakers, in their first In-Season Tournament game, are clinging to a two-point lead over the Suns with just over a minute to play. LeBron drives to the middle and the Suns abandon Reddish in the corner. LeBron doesn’t hesitate. He finds Reddish again. And this time, Reddish rewards the trust with a dagger 3.

“To all the naysayers and basketball savants that don’t know nothing about basketball and telling me I should’ve shot that shot in Miami instead of passing to Cam Reddish, well I did the same thing tonight because I trust my teammates,” James said. “I make the right play every single time. And the game ball goes to Cam Reddish for sure.”

Couple things here. First, Reddish did have a game-ball sort of showing. He wasn’t LeBron, who finished with 32 points and played the entire fourth quarter, but he hit 5 of his 8 3-pointers and was disruptive as a defender in the passing lanes after being inserted into the starting lineup for Austin Reaves.

Second, I’m not so sure LeBron’s “trust” had a whole lot to do with Reddish making this shot. I think he was having a good shooting night, and it went in. He was having a bad shooting night in Miami, and that shot didn’t go in. Sometimes the “right play” can be the wrong one depending on circumstance and the parties involved.

It’s a reasonable argument to suggest that while the “right play” in a vacuum is always to pass to an open shooter when you don’t have a clean look at the basket, in game-winning situations that could be the wrong decision.

You have to account, to some degree, for who you are passing to in high-leverage possessions. Take the Warriors, for instance. They will take a contested Steph Curry shot with the game on the line over a wide-open Draymond Green shot every single time.

There have been times when LeBron probably would’ve been better served to err on the side of forcing his shot rather than deferring to an open teammate who, in many cases, is being left wide open for a reason. That said, I don’t think the Miami situation was one of them.

Go watch that play again. Jimmy Butler pretty much stays bodied against LeBron the whole way to the rim, keeping him from really elevating with any force. By the time Adebayo goes up to contest a possible shot, LeBron is already descending.

With Butler on his body and Adebayo at his vertical apex, LeBron was not in a position to get even a decent look at a shot there. He drew a second defender, saw an open shooter, and made the pass. It didn’t work out, but it was, in that case, the right play.

On Friday night, the situation was different. For starters, it wasn’t a game-deciding shot. The Lakers were already up two. Beyond that, it was a natural pass. All the action was flowing that way; LeBron was fully covered and going away from the basket, and Jusuf Nurkic had completely abandoned Reddish to suck down on Anthony Davis who was angling for a lob.

The pass to Reddish wasn’t just the right play, it was the only play.

And good for Reddish. He hit a huge shot and the Lakers held on for a much-needed 122-119 win to snap a three-game losing streak. Who knows if Reddish will stick in the starting lineup, but he’s trying to hang onto a career at this point. The guy just needs to solidify a role.

My guess is Reddish ends up back on the bench when Jared Vanderbilt comes back, or even before then; Reaves has had a tough start but he is a better player. For now, though, that doesn’t matter. What matters is Reddish got a second shot at a huge corner 3 set up by LeBron, and he took advantage. Good for him.