[It is actually happening.](https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/11/8/23447175/lebron-james-lakers-father-time)
>Despite showing signs of an irreversible decline, LeBron’s basic numbers are still impressive. In 36.1 minutes per game, he’s averaging 24.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 7.1 assists. Only Giannis Antetokounmpo and Zion Williamson are taking more shots in the restricted area, where [James is still shooting 69 percent](https://www.nba.com/stats/players/shooting?DistanceRange=By%20Zone&dir=D&sort=Restricted%20Area%20FGA). But whether we’re comparing LeBron to versions of his former self or other stars, a closer look still sparks reasonable concern. LeBron’s PER and true shooting percentage haven’t been this low since he was a rookie. (Six of LeBron’s nine games have already ended with a true shooting percentage below 54 percent. [He had only a dozen *all last season*](https://stathead.com/basketball/player-game-finder.cgi?request=1&match=player_game_count_season&order_by_asc=0&order_by=name_display_csk&player_id_hint=LeBron+James&player_id_select=LeBron+James&player_id=jamesle01&year_min=2011&comp_type=reg&comp_id=NBA&ccomp%5B1%5D=lt&cval%5B1%5D=.54&cstat%5B1%5D=ts_pct&season_start=1&season_end=-1).)
Jason Momoa stops for no man.
by MambaMaleGrindset
43 Comments
Lebron’s last hurrah was the bubble. Since then he’s just been statpadding. His numbers have been okay but his impact on winning is vastly diminished.
It’s sad lebron’s last ride was at Disney world when nobody was watching. He deserves a proper send off
Baba Voss coming for the king
Hasn’t he been playing with the Flu?
>It’s sad lebron’s last ride was at Disney world when nobody was watching. He deserves a proper send off
Ahh yes. Proper send off.
Trade him to the wizards.
I know he was injured, but he should’ve went after that scoring title.
Sad that this is how it ends kind of. Starting to remind me of Kobe
NBA should suspend father time
Yes he is trash now trade him to the Warriors
Terrible timing for that commercial
I’m pretty surprised he isn’t ring chasing. I thought his biggest goal would be to surpass Jordan, but he’s cool with chillin and being rich in LA with his kids.
He’ll be back to 27/7/7 or better soon enough.
Blocked by age!!!
If the Ringer posts an article about it, it means the opposite is about to happen. Watch for LeBron to ball out soon.
LeBron is going to play 20+ years, end up with the scoring title and they will still write articles about how his efficiency dropped the last couple years. Like no shit, he’s almost 40
Seems folks are itching to be the first ones to note his decline. Father Time was always going to catch up with him, and comparing his current state to his peak years is unfair and ridiculous. However, I think those expecting a steep decline are in for disappointment.
He just looks out of rhythm. I’m not expecting peak LeBron to come back, but I expect his scoring efficiency to improve.
This slump is all an elaborate marketing campaign.
Wish he had picked the Nuggets in 2019. Would have won like three more. He’s not done yet, though. Just in a dumpster fire situation. Still capable of elite-level performances but he can’t carry a team of inept shooters any further.
If they had any spacing at all, it feels like some of the terrible high difficulty shots he takes wouldn’t need to be taken
but yeah… he isn’t “THAT” lebron anymore
Lebron stats from October last season:
23.8/5.8/6.4 54 TS%
Lebrons stats so far this year
24.3/8.9/7.1 50.6 TS%
His jumper is super cold right now but we have a large volume of evidence that he’s a better shooter than this. Once his 3 ball starts falling again he’ll be back to very efficient scoring. He currently has the exact same 2p% as he did more than a decade ago in 2011/2012 season.
It’s really only his three ball. He’s still elite in the paint. Once his 3 goes up to his career average he’ll be fine.
I hate articles like this. Clowns like Michael Pina are just waiting on his downfall to get the clicks. We’re barely 10 games into the season. Chill.
Bron haters been waiting on this moment for like 5 years.
It’s been the defence I’ve found the most concerning, teams are really targeting him on offense.
There’s a paragraph in the write up that annoys me, not because of the author, but because I’ve watched the games.
*“Related: LeBron’s free throw rate is also the lowest it’s ever been. There are 29 players logging more attempts per game. Let’s name a few: Saddiq Bey, Kevin Porter Jr., and Alperen Sengun.”*
Bron gets hit on most of his drives to the rim and doesn’t get the calls. I reckon he needs to embrace flopping, so he can get his easy points at the FT line.
Look, I don’t care how impressive or unimpressive his next few seasons are. I just want to get to the point where he’s in his late 40s putting up two shots and a few boards in 8-10 minutes coming off the bench for the Knicks. Him treating the NBA regular season like his own personal YMCA lunch break league is just so amazing and hilarious to think about.
This is also the worst team he’s played with since his rookie year.
It looks worse because the Lakers are doing badly.
Hahaha Aftee ten games. This guy has been staving off a decline for the last 5 years. I bet we’ll get a retraction if be starts playing well again…
As a Bron stan, boy oh boy do I hope this shit ages poorly. It’s wild to me that we, as a society, actively try to capitalize on the decline of at worst the 2nd greatest player of all time….
Father time is having a season for the ages in football. Brady, Rodgers, and Matt Ryan all taking L’s.
LeDone.
Father Time the real MVP.
LeGrandpa
It’s already caught him, he’s barely clinging to a top 10 in the League status, and this is likely the last time he’ll be able to claim it.
I know some of you are younger than me and think that this is Santa Claus isn’t real moment or something and are clinging onto the misguided idea that there is still a future where LeBron will just go berserk in the Playoffs at some point and clown on the whole League again, but it’s pretty normal and it’ll be OK.
So this is it, all ya’ll just going to forget r/NBA does this shit every year and calls LeBrons demise like ya’ll do every year and are swiftly proven wrong, again. FFS
These ” Bron is declining” weirdos will look stupid as hell when he gets rolling.
hard to be motivated on the most dog shit roster in the league with all the drama surrounding it as well. i think he has plenty left in the tank but i dont see him going bron-mode until something happens to that roster
I get that he’s on the tail end of his basketball career so it makes sense to lock in the extension and I also get that LA is the place to be if he wants to grow his business empire post-NBA, but extending with the Lakers was the worst *basketball* move he could’ve made.
It’s also easy to say this in hindsight with how poor the Lakers have been doing since the Westbrook trade, but maybe they’re just delaying the inevitable by not blowing the entire team up.
Even If he has obviously declined physically, people still expect him to be the 2007 LeBron who could bulldoze his way to the basket in every possession, His skillset has changed and he’s being asked to do way too much in a team with no shooting and no spacing. I believe it’s a mix of a logical decline and the loss of motivation that brings playing alongside such a bad roster.
Just to state my own biases: I like LeBron, I have no skin in the LeBron Decline game, just reposting an interesting read. Frankly, I can’t fathom that he wants to go out like MJ, no new worlds to conquer, stuck on a shitty team with a bunch of randos. I for sure thought he’d be chasing six rings.
Bruh it’s been 10 games out of 82. Maybe give his old man joints some time to warm up.
This is so fucking stupid. If we saw LeBron struggling to get to the rim, or struggling to finish there, then yeah, I’d be concerned.
But his numbers at the rim are great, his numbers inside the arc in general are great.
He’s just in a cold spell shooting wise.
Are people really such delusional haters that they’ll convince themselves there’s a real chance that LeBron fucking James, coming off the best shooting season of his career, “regressed” because of age into not knowing how to shoot a basketball in 4 months ? Absurd …
The year is 2072. 86 year old LeBron James is only averaging 17.6 ppg 4.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 29.1 minutes per game. Is this the beginning of LeBron’s decline!?!?!
if it’s about chasing down, we don’t need stats to back it up, just the hairline by itself is proof enough, just like any middle-aged man