5 worst shooting performances by LeBron James across his NBA career so far

LeBron James during the LA Lakers 2021 Media Day.
LeBron James during the LA Lakers 2021 Media Day.

#3 LeBron James vs New Jersey Nets / 2003-04 NBA season

LeBron James #6 of the LA Lakers shoots a three-point basket.
LeBron James #6 of the LA Lakers shoots a three-point basket.

LeBron James had some rough nights in his rookie season, which was definitely normal for a player coming from high school and having lots of expectations, as well as a target on his back.

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On February 11th, 2004, LeBron James was playing in his 50th career game in the NBA, and he had a terrible shooting night. Against the New Jersey Nets, who had played in the NBA Finals in the previous two years, James made just two of his 13 field goals (15.4%) and scored nine points in a 20-point loss at home.


#2 LeBron James vs LA Clippers / 2003-04 NBA season

Photo Credit: AP.
Photo Credit: AP.

In only the 19th game of his NBA career, LeBron James faced the LA Clippers on December 3rd, 2003, and 'The King', who was starting to heat up but lacked experience, scored just four points in 34 minutes of action.

Four points in an NBA game is the second-fewer points he's ever scored in a single game, and the lowest total in games in which he played more than 20 minutes.

James made two of his 13 attempts from the field (15.4%) and the Cleveland Cavaliers, expectedly, lost to LAC by 10 points on the road.


#1 LeBron James vs Philadelphia 76ers / 2004-05 NBA season

Photo Credit: NBA.com.
Photo Credit: NBA.com.

In his sophomore year in the NBA, LeBron James established himself as one of the best players in the league, averaging 27 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game in the regular season and appearing in 80 games.

He also made it to the All-Star Game for the first time in his NBA career, but certainly had two of the worst regular-season games of his career that year. On December 29th, 2004, James put up only three points in a loss to the Houston Rockets, but he played in just 17 minutes due to an injury, and missed all of his five field goals.

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The other game, which tops this list in terms of his worst night in terms of shooting percentage, came on March 18th, 2005, when he made just three of his 20 field goals (15%).

In that game, against the Philadelphia 76ers, LeBron James did score 16 points after making 10 of 12 free throws, but his poor shooting night was too much for Cleveland to overcome and the team fell by 12 points at home against Allen Iverson and company.


Also read: “I owed him that” - Magic Johnson feels he should’ve talked to LeBron James before stepping down as LA Lakers' President of Basketball Operations

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