Draymond Green has been in many battles with LeBron James throughout the years, so it's interesting to hear him say that the current version of the all-time great is unlike anything we've seen before.
Green's comments came on his podcast following Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Lakers and Warriors. Los Angeles defeated Golden State to take a 1-0 series lead despite a quiet game from James that saw him finish with 22 points on 9-for-24 shooting, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Anthony Davis stole the show for the Lakers in the win with a historic 30 points and 23 rebounds. The team also got a scoring punch from D'Angelo Russell and Dennis Schroder, who recorded 19 points each.
"I'm telling you, man: LeBron is playing a totally different style, a totally different game than we've ever seen him play before," Green said. "It's interesting figuring it out. It's very interesting.
"Like, you're not used to seeing LeBron off the ball so much. I thought that was interesting and something that we'll have to adjust to. It's just not your typical LeBron running the show, which is a bit weird."
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There are some numbers that support what Green is saying.
Through seven games in the 2023 NBA Playoffs, James is averaging the fewest points (22.1), fourth-fewest field goal attempts (18.7) and second-fewest assists (5.0) of his postseason career. Furthermore, his touches, time of possession and usage are way down.
Here's how James compares in each of those categories since 2014, which is as far back as the NBA's tracking data goes:
| Playoffs | Touches per game | Time of possession | Usage rate |
| 2014 (Heat) | 78.5 | 6.1 | 31.0% |
| 2015 (Cavaliers) | 102.2 | 9.5 | 36.8% |
| 2016 (Cavaliers) | 86.8 | 6.3 | 30.1% |
| 2017 (Cavaliers) | 94.8 | 7.5 | 31.1% |
| 2018 (Cavaliers) | 98.8 | 9.6 | 34.4% |
| 2020 (Lakers) | 88.6 | 8.0 | 29.6% |
| 2021 (Lakers) | 90.5 | 6.8 | 28.9% |
| 2023 (Lakers) | 71.3 | 4.3 | 25.9% |
For perspective, a usage rate of 25.9 percent is the same as what the likes of Lauri Markkanen, Christian Wood and Khris Middleton averaged during the regular season. That's highly unusual from someone who has a history of commanding almost every second he's on the court in the playoffs.
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James is still averaging 22.1 points, 11.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game, making him one of only three players in the 2023 NBA Playoffs posting 20-10-5, the others being MVP finalists Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. More importantly for the Lakers, they were able to upset the Grizzlies in the first round and steal homecourt advantage from the Warriors in the second round even with James not dominating the ball like he usually does.
It'll be interesting to see if that continues or if the 38-year-old is simply saving himself for when the Lakers need him most.
