By Kahlil Haywood
Blavity
Reprinted – by Texas Metro News
https://blavity.com/
Year 22. That’s right, it’s the 22nd year of LeBron James’ incredible NBA career. To put this in context, I graduated from college 13 years ago. James’ first season was my sophomore year of high school. At this point, I sport almost a fully grey beard. That’s how long James has been a professional athlete. For the longest time, one of his most lauded attributes has been his availability. Becoming the NBA’s all-time scoring leader means you have got to play a ton of games. And for the most part, it has seemed that James has been defying Father Time.
Although he got off to a hot start this season, we’ve been seeing a few more games where he barely scrapes double figures in points. It’s my opinion that his age isn’t so much affecting his talent, but his stamina. To be turning 40 this month, and having played over 1,500 games (regular season), it can be harder to recover on the daily. But of course, as a headline, it can grab eyes to make it seem as if James’s season is in some kind of peril. I tend to think that this is only a slump. It’s a slump that I believe will be remedied by some much-needed rest.
James, like a few other players that are left, does pride himself on playing the majority of the season. But I don’t think his teammates or fans would feel shafted if he took a few games off throughout the season. Maybe he could even play fewer minutes. But I don’t believe he can sustain optimum health and rest by playing over 35 minutes a night, every night. Furthermore, it’s unfortunate that by the looks of things, he needs to play those minutes for the Lakers to have a shot.
It’s not the end of the world when we look at this season through a macro lens. At age 39, James currently averages 22 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists per game. That’s highly productive, and a dream for anyone at this stage of their career. But those numbers are damn good even for a player in their prime. So I don’t want this moment during this season to overshadow the continued greatness that we’re witnessing. This team miraculously still depends on a guy who has played in the NBA longer than some players on the team have been alive.
I’m not worried about James’ season from a standpoint of production. I do think this slump signals to me that next season could be his last. You don’t want unnecessary spotlight on these slumps. I think James has a good feel on when the right time to step away will be. Chances are that his production next season will almost mirror the production he has put out this season. And if that happens to be the case, what a way to go out. Averaging over 20 points per game at 41 years old would be a trip. And it would be yet another record set by The King. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Regardless of this slump, we continue to “witness” greatness.
