http://www.the-coli.com/coliseum/81409-bron-wade-admit-stat-padding.html#post2974842
]
Ethan Skolnick: Miami Heat
Ethan Skolnick: Miami Heat
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, shown at a shootaround before an NBA Finals game in 2012, have been competing with each other this season over shooting percentages.
By Ethan J. Skolnick
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
MIAMI —
His feet soaking in ice after a late December victory against Charlotte, LeBron James received a cold, unpleasant splash of water to the face. It came from the stat sheet that he had dropped in the bucket.
“Damn!”
James had just recorded 27 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and four steals in a victory against the Bobcats, and yet one number struck him as entirely unacceptable.
“Nine for 19!”
Yes, nine for 19 – as in a shade under 50 percent.
So why would this matter?
“
It’s like a competition me and D-Wade are having right now about who can shoot 50 percent, in each and every game,” James said, when asked a couple of days later. “I had no idea, because I don’t know what’s going on throughout the game as far as stats. I came in after the game, I saw 9-for-19 and I missed that last long three, I felt I could have gotten into the lane and got a layup. I’ve got to make up for it.”Well, he has since.
James has shot 50 percent or better in 11 of the past 12 games, the only exception in Portland on Jan. 10. Since that stumble, he has shot 64.9 percent over the past four games. That has lifted his overall field goal accuracy to 55 percent for the season which, if it holds, which would mark the sixth straight season that he’s set a career high. He has shot at least 50 percent in 31 of his 38 games this season, and his effective field goal percentage (which accounts for the difficulty and benefit of 3-point shots) is a career-high 58.6, better than Michael Jordan’s in any season.
And no, not everything is a dunk. According to basketballreference.com, James has shot 77.6 percent at the rim, but only 35 of his shots have come from there.
All of this is much more impressive than the 20-point streak that was recently stopped at 54. James can put up points simply from sheer volume of attempts, with the ball in his hands so much. To post these percentages, you need to show patience, restraint and discretion.
“Early in my career, I didn’t take every shot as seriously as I do now, to be more efficient,” James said. “It comes with age, it comes with experience. You know, when you’re an 18 year old rookie, or a 21-year-old, third year in the league, you can get away with a lot of mistakes, and not looking at numbers as much. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve been more efficient, taking care of the ball. I value possessions more.”
He also values competition, and he’s been in one with Wade. Wade is also shooting the highest percentage of his career, at 50.6, a fact that Erik Spoelstra noted Thursday while asserting that if Wade was shooting as much as he once did, he could still average 28 points.
“We’re both so conscious of wanting to shoot 50 percent, that sometimes you wish you had that Kobe (Bryant) thought, where you just don’t care,” Wade said. “We talk about it all the time. It sucks at times, but it’s who we are.”
And yes, Wade also checks the stat sheets after every game. He was irritated with himself after shooting 9-for-20 in Orlando on New Year’s Eve. Wade has a ways to go to catch James in the competition; he’s been 50 percent or better in 19 of his 34 games. For his career, Wade is now just a tick (48.6 to 48.7) behind James.
“I’ve been challenged like this since I came in the league,” Wade said. “(Heat assistant Bob) McAdoo challenged me early on to try to shoot 50 percent. So he kind of messed me up early on.”
McAdoo, a Hall of Famer, shot 50.3 percent for his career.
“
But when LeBron came here, he probably cared about it more, because that’s what we talk about,” Wade said.
Yes, and think about, even during games. You ever notice James holding the ball in the backcourt, waiting for the buzzer to sound, before launching a longshot 60-footer, like he did in Golden State?
Or Wade doing the same?
You assume that’s an accident.
“We were in Dallas,” Wade said, laughing as he recalled a Jan. 2 game in which he shot 9-for-21 and had the ball in his hands, far from the basket, with the clock winding down. “I was like, ‘Why did I just shoot that?’ But I had four seconds. I was like, ‘Damn.’ You have no choice when you have that much time. It would have looked bad.”So why isn’t there a third party to this competition?
After all, Chris Bosh is shooting 54.5 percent, highest of his career, and bringing his career percentage to 49.5.
“It wouldn’t be fair,” Bosh said, smiling. “I expect to shoot 50 percent all the time.”
Wade agreed.
“Yeah, it wouldn’t be fair,” Wade said, pausing. “It just wouldn’t be. I’m not going to say why. He can’t play with us. His shots come a little differently.”
All’s good for everyone so long as at least half go through.
that was pretty dope. 
