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[h2]Sam Smith:
LeBron gets star treatment[/h2]
MJ averaged fewer than two fouls per game only in his last two seasons, and never as few as James' current 1.72. Among some of the great perimeter players in history, at a time when substantially more perimeter contact was allowed, Larry Bird averaged about 2.5 fouls, Magic Johnson 2.26 and Jerry West and Oscar Robertson well above two per game.
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Posted by Sam Smith | [email protected] | 04.06.09 | 9:35 a.m. CT
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The Bulls, inching closer to qualifying for the NBA playoffs, could be opening against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs have the best record in the Eastern Conference and have just about clinched the No. 1 seed, and they have the likely league MVP, LeBron James.
James, certainly, is having a terrific season in carrying a Cavs team to the best record in franchise history without another true star.
There's been talk of James being the only player in the game today who one day could average a triple double, the long thought unreachable mark achieved only by Oscar Robertson. James is averaging 28.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists this season.
But perhaps even more remarkable is in a season James is being pushed by many to be on the all-league defensive team, that James is being called for fewer fouls than perhaps any top perimeter player in the history of the game.
We always joke about stars getting all the calls, and we heard plenty of this in Chicago in Michael Jordan's era. Now, I'm not saying there's some sort of conspiracy. But James may well be the most protected star we've ever seen.
Do the referees consciously protect James knowing he is perhaps the league's top marketing figure and he is featured more than any player on the nightly sports highlights? I always doubt that knowing the integrity of the refereeing corps as a group and believe NBA officiating is the best in sports.
Still, we've never seen anything like this. Especially at a time when it is generally agreed with rules changes it is the most difficult time to defend on the perimeter without committing fouls.
James is averaging 1.72 fouls per game in an average of 37.9 minutes per game. James hasn't even been in foul trouble one game this season. He never has had more than four fouls called on him in a game, and since March 1 is being called for fewer than 1.3 fouls per game.
In 12 of the 20 games since then, James has been called for one or zero fouls in a game. James had a stretch of five straight games to conclude March averaging 36.8 minutes per game without being called for one foul. Not one in five games! In the last nine games, James has been called for three personal fouls. It's really amazing given the involvement James has in the action of the game.
"It's impossible," said one team executive.
The executive said there is one slight explanation. That the game has changed to so much drive and kick that the perimeter defenders end up guarding the three so much, and don't foul as often. That there is less one on one penetration. Still, he said not for five consecutive games like that.
James is now averaging 2.02 fouls per game in his career and has fouled out just three times in six seasons. Jordan averaged 2.6 fouls per game in his career and had fouled out eight times in his first six seasons.
Jordan averaged fewer than two fouls per game only in his last two seasons when he was not as active as a defender, and never as few as James' current 1.72. Among some of the great perimeter players in history, at a time when substantially more perimeter contact was allowed, Larry Bird averaged about 2.5 fouls, Magic Johnson 2.26 and Jerry West and Oscar Robertson well above two per game.
In the game now, Kobe Bryant has a career average of about 2.7 fouls per game and is about 2.3 this season. Dwyane Wade has a career average of 2.67 and is about 2.2 this season.
The all-time star with the fewest personal fouls was Wilt Chamberlain, who never fouled out of a game in his 14-year career. It was a point of pride with Wilt, who averaged 1.99 fouls per game in his career, barely below where James is now.
It simply defies explanation how James, who is an aggressive player, can be whistled for so few fouls per game, and especially at a time his team is saying he never has played better defense and when the rules are more stringent regarding perimeter contact. Can he truly be that perfect?
