So tonight, gotta leave that nine to five upon the shelf

And just enjoy yourself

Groove, let the madness in the music get to you

Life ain’t so bad at all

If you live it off the wall

Life ain’t so bad at all (live life off the wall)

Live your life off the wall (live it off the wall)

– Michael Jackson, “Off the Wall”

Those are the lyrics to the chorus of Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall,” which appeared on his 1979 album of the same name. This season, Cleveland Cavaliers forward/guard/Jedi Master LeBron James seems to have taken those lyrics and used them as inspiration to have more fun in the flow of the offense and play off the ball more. It’s an incremental transition as James relinquishes a modicum of control in the offense and becomes a less dominant ball-handler than he has for much of his career. James has so far allowed his teammates to man the steering wheel for longer stretches than he’s accustomed to. After all, sometimes it’s a lot more fun to ride shotgun.

But for someone who spent last season taking charge at the slightest sign of trouble, handling the ball for the entirety of his playing time in some games, and lounging around to conserve energy when he wasn’t handling the ball, James’ off-ball attentiveness this season has raised the ceiling of both his play and the Cavaliers offense.

All of which has Cavs fans and James singing an alternate version of Jackson’s “Off the Wall” — even though we know James may be a more of a Prince fan.

Groove, let the madness in the offense get to you

Life ain’t so bad at all

If you live it off the ball

Life ain’t so bad at all (live life off the ball)

Live your life off the ballllllll (live it off the balllllllllllllll)

Before anyone gets the idea that James has taken a nap in the backseat while Mo Williams and even Kevin Love take the team on an eight-month road trip, it’s important that I say that James is still in charge of the offense. He still takes the wheel when the team’s in peril, when it matters most, and whenever he just feels like it. But that doesn’t diminish the fact that James has taken (at least until Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Pistons, anyway) a more active off-ball role than he’s had for his entire career.

Sometimes, James’ off-ball tricks are subtle … barely perceptible. What could easily be mistaken for minor shifts or even involuntary twitches are actually premeditated ploys to evade defenders. Such is the case in the clips below: the first a hesitation move against Philadelphia, leading JaKarr Sampson into one screen then pushing T.J. McConnell like he’s overturning traffic cone so Sampson has to dodge another, and the second a slight shove to the back of Knicks guard Jose Calderon that the refs don’t catch, creating an easy layup after a Cavs steal. While these small off-ball moves are hard to fully appreciate, it’s easy to like the end result: M0AR POINTZ!

Recently, James has also taken a shine to more elaborate off-ball schemes that require him to use or set a whole collection of screens. This isn’t NBA Jam-style button-mashing, but chess-piece maneuvering that, while lacking immediate gratification, has an ultimately more satisfying payoff than bullying a way to the hoop.

Last Friday against the New York Knicks, James sets a pick for ball-handler Mo Williams, who goes all the way from the right side to the left side along the three-point line. James then cuts toward the basket, leading his man into a succession of screens set by J.R. Smith and Kevin Love. By the time he’s underneath the basket, Mo’s reached the opposite side of the court and Carmelo Anthony is too far behind James to deny an easy entry pass. Anthony has no choice but to foul James.

It was this Carmelo foul forced by James’ off-ball movement that inspired former NBA great Walt “Clyde” Frazier to say, “You’re seeing something unusual from James. He’s playing without the ball. He’s a lot like Melo, they almost have to have the ball exclusively. But the last two possessions he’s played without it. Previously scored underneath, this time able to draw the foul.” Obviously (as this post argues), Walt seen much of the Cavs so far this busy — undoubtedly busy stroking his beard and wearing outrageous outfits with pimp fedoras.

James’ reinvented off-ball movement culminated in a game-saving play last weekend. James has been more open to do interesting stuff off the ball — meaning he might even entertain the idea of running plays drawn up by coach David Blatt. Last Saturday, while the rest of the world was watching college football or watching Ronda Rousey getting punched in the face or having an active social life, some people were watching basketball.

With the Cavs down two points with 21.9 seconds remaining against the Milwaukee Bucks, Richard Jefferson was inbounding the ball. Last season, the Cavs would have lobbed the ball up for James, someone (probably Tristan Thompson) would have plodded up to set a high screen, and James would have lowered his shoulder and gone to the hoop, forcing up a layup and lobbying for free throws. Instead, Richard Jefferson inbounds to someone other than James, passing the ball to Kevin Love.

James, being guarded in the right corner by the long and lean Giannis Antentokoumpo, sets a screen on Chris Middleton, who’s defending Jefferson after the inbounds pass. Jefferson makes for the corner, and Giannis quickly switches onto Jefferson to prevent a wide open corner three. By the time Middleton realizes he needs to switch … processes this information … and changes directions, he’s already a half-step behind LeBron James, who’s making his way toward Kevin Love. Middleton tugs at James’ jersey like a bus stop cord.

Love gives James the ball via a handoff (another new feature of the Cavs offense), interfering with Middleton ever-so-slightly in the process. At this point, Middleton is too far behind James to recover. James ties the game with a thunderous dunk — one that was set up by James’ deference to the offense, a well-timed movement off the ball, and a willing and well-executed screen on Jefferson’s man. The result is a better and higher percentage shot than what would have resulted from the standard high pick-and-roll that was (and will remain) a staple of the Cavs crunch-time offense from last season. The play is diagrammed below just like coach Blatt drew it up, but with prettier colors.

The stats on LeBron’s different playing style have produced interesting results. My hunch was that James’ usage rate would be lower because he’s dominating the ball less. Actually, his usage rate has increased slightly. However, when you chip away at the numbers using NBA.com’s fantastic player tracking data, we see some really interesting changes in how James has put himself to use.

James points per game are up from 25.3 last season to 27.3 this season, a modest increase. That could be the result of any number of things. But then we start looking at the data on his touches, the results of which are summarized in the table below. James is receiving 12 fewer touches this season, down from a bonkers 81.7 touches per game. He’s also possessing the ball nearly two minutes less per game, dribbling less, and driving less. But then we see his post touches have more than doubled, and his points per post touch have increased nearly 40 percent. The film (using the examples above) would suggest that his improved off-ball play has contributed to his improved efficiency in the post. The end result: nearly nine more points per 100 touches, or a 26.5 percent more efficient player this season when viewing touches as the input.

While James has always been a force of nature with the ball in his hands, he hasn’t always been the destructive off-ball hell-raiser that he’s physically and mentally equipped to be — viewing himself more as the facilitator as opposed to the facilitated in the past. His increased willingness to set screens, make timely cuts, and move in prescribed patterns around ball-handlers is just another phase in his ongoing evolution — just as he improved and continues to improve his jump-shooting, post game, and footwork in years past. After all, what else is a guy to do when he doesn’t have the ball? Start crocheting? Draft sick tweets? Read?

The Cavs will be well-served at LeBron James’ continued off-ball development. But that will also require the other Cavaliers to be dependable running the offense, a proposition that has been hit-or-miss so far. Mo Williams and Matthew Dellavedova will have to take the wheel until Kyrie Irving returns from his knee injury. Can James resist the temptation to take over?