LeBron Is Getting Old But The Lakers Are Hiding It

LeBron is getting old and the Lakers know it. His general stats might look like there's no drop off, 25 points, 8.8 rebounds, 7 assists. But the Lakers are 3-10 and his impact isn't the same. One of their 3 wins this season came against the Pelicans, even though LeBron shot 39% from the field. But if LeBron was so sick that he wasn't able to get out of bed for days, why did he play the most number of minutes on the Lakers that game, at 40 in the regular season. In fact, LeBron is playing the highest number of minutes per game on this team at 38 years old. I don't think anyone trusts LeBron's words right now. He about said that he told Sonya to have Steph. Comparing LeBron's stats pre-Lakers to the last 5 seasons, his numbers with the Lakers are arguably better, but looking deeper, the key parts of LeBron are crumbling away. Known for his physicality, he's been especially bad in the post. He's in the bottom 6% in the league in post scoring. He's at 33.3% effective field goal percentage, by far his lowest since 2016. His points per post possession is .66. It looks like he's not getting to his spots as easily and not elevating as much on his finishes. LeBron still has his moments, and if he dunks this, he got us a scrum. His finishing at the rim is also its lowest in the past 9 years. Free throw attempts are also at the lowest they've ever been, but you can also say that hey, he's not getting calls. And maybe as a result, he's become more reliant on his jump shot. That's more broken than it's ever been. He's shooting his lowest 3pt percentage of his career at 23.9% on the second most attempts in his career at 7.13pt per game. So basically he's shucking up a lot of threes, and he's shooting worse than Russ. But the media ain't really talking about that, huh? He had a stretch where he missed 16 straight threes this season. There's been a lot of low 3pt threes that have been more self-harm. LeBron is literally shooting his worst true shooting percentage ever at 51%. That's 6% lower than his worst. I'm going to emphasize this point again, what LeBron is doing at this age is phenomenal. And I agree, LeBron should not have to carry a team at this age. But at the same time, so many people are talking about getting LeBron help without realizing that you're trying to build a team around a very different LeBron. What is up dudes, cadets, ballers, players, it's ya boi MJ. Did you know that the Lakers have never posted LeBron in a loss tweet? Kenny looked at all the loss graphics last year and found that in 43 post game graphics about losses, LeBron had never been shown once. Now is it that serious? No. Not at all. So why am I telling you this? Because it illustrates that teams are willing to frame their stars in a better light. You want the stars to look their best as possible because they are the face of your team. It's simple marketing. Make your star player look the best so you can sell more tickets and get more brands on board. And even that game against the Spurs when LeBron had 30 points in 32 minutes, he was also a team worst negative 17. Actually the best Lakers lineups are without LeBron and with Russ. How tables have turned. The Lakers have run a lot of lineups that haven't worked. I'm out here making my own squad with SoRare, the channel's sponsor. SoRare is a basketball fantasy game where you use digital player cards to create lineups and compete with thousands of players already playing the game. You get 20 free common cards when you sign up. I picked Siakam at the beginning of the season and that's worked out well for me. Spin cycle here to stay. But I also got Anfernee Simons and Josh Hart. The trailblazers are doing better than the Lakers. There are other tiers of cards like limited, rare, and super rare but you can also just use the common cards you get for free and be creative with it. And I might need to pick up Westbrook off the marketplace. Westbrook off the bench is like Michael Jordan. You can get more cards in the marketplace. And if you buy 5 cards, you'll get one limited card on me using my link in the description. It's a small sample size early into the season but out of the top 10 most used Laker lineups, all lineups including LeBron had a negative rating while 3 of the 4 lineups without LeBron had a plus 30 or higher net rating. Again, Westbrook out here changing the narrative and being part of some of the best lineups is amazing to see. The energy is different and the Lakers move the ball around a lot more. Their assist and assist to turnover ratio both jump up. And all this isn't to mention defense. But that's already been up and down in the past few years more so depending on whether LeBron wants to play. LeBron is in his 20th season and has played the 3rd most minutes in NBA history. He's known to spend 1-3 million dollars per year on his body and conditioning. It's money well spent. The Ironman played in 77 games per year in his first 15 seasons. Before signing with the Lakers, the worst thing he ever suffered were cramps in the 2011-2014 finals. He's literally been a freak of nature. LeBron didn't get injured, only load managed, but now it's different. Injuries are almost a commonplace. His first time missing more than 15 games was after suffering a groin injury on Christmas Day in 2019. He missed 17 and only played 55 games that season. This is the same groin he was massaging vs the Clippers last week. And so far, he's missed 3 games. In 2020, he had a healthy year, played 67 out of 72 games, was 2nd MVP voting, and won the chip. Y'all can debate if it was fake or not. In 2021, he suffered a high ankle sprain as a result of a player falling on him. He played in 45 of 72 games. Last season, he missed 26 games, but still played at a somewhat normal LeBron level. He's missed more games during his 4 seasons on the Lakers than he did in his first 15 seasons combined. Now, are some of these injuries accidents? Yeah. But at the same time, LeBron would land on his ankle, have it bend 90 degrees, get up, and hit a 3. Even with all the drives, all the contact, over all the years, LeBron was a tank and didn't get hurt. Perhaps LeBron's greatest superpower is his longevity. He's about to break Kareem's scoring record because of his ability to play every game. As players age, the body isn't as resilient and recovery takes longer. And while LeBron isn't as injury prone as Anthony Davis, we're seeing a decline right in front of our very eyes. And all of this is beginning to show in game. LeBron ranks in the bottom 50 in win shares per 48 minutes. His win shares are down 70% from their previous low. But the thing is, if LeBron is nursing an ankle problem like he says he is, why is the Lakers offense so heavily relying on LeBron when he hasn't ramped up to the right game shape or is not healthy? This conversation about LeBron doesn't really start because most people will look at the general stats and call it a day. Which is why LeBron and the Lakers want him to play so many minutes despite the Lakers actually having more effective lineups and despite their own claims that LeBron is dealing with some injuries that are quote unquote not that severe. The Lakers continue to build around LeBron AD, but don't trade their picks? Why? Because it's obvious that LeBron can't do everything by himself now and can't keep this up forever. Mortgaging their future on an aging LeBron makes no sense. It was fun a few years ago when LeBron was literally an MVP running in his 18th season. That's just wild. The Lakers can see the writing on the wall. LeBron will continue to play until his son is in the league and he'll still be one of the stars in the league. We're not talking about LeBron himself just falling off the cliff, he's just been reduced to a measly star, which is still amazing considering he's in his 20th season. But now injuries to his groin will be something he'll have to monitor all year and this Lakers squad, don't forget, was supposed to be a championship team. And don't let the media fool you, do not let them excuse LeBron. No matter how much they're in cahoots with LeBron and don't talk about his bad performances. The ALLDAY notification squad shoutout goes to an OG, Day 1, my boy Arman. This Raptors looking real tall, thanks for the ALLDAY support. And if you want to know why Steph is so mad right now, there's a video right here. And if he's still here, ULRIL wants to comment lie, so I know. It's ya boi MJ. We out. We gone.