Los Angeles Lakers superstar power forward LeBron James had numbered among the game’s true giants for the first 22 seasons of his Hall of Fame career.
Now, in Year 23, the four-time league MVP has fallen back down to earth.
James, who’ll turn 41 in three days, has been the league’s oldest player for years. But he’s getting properly roasted for his lack of defensive moxie of late, especially after he submitted a miserable effort on that end of the hardwood against the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day. James had an underwhelming offensive night, too, scoring 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor and 3-of-4 shooting from the foul line, while also chipping in five assists (against three turnovers), two boards, two steals, and a block.
But the 21-time All-NBA honoree posted a team-worst -33 plus-minus, thanks in large part to his lackluster performance defensively. Another big issue, per Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, was his disengaged work on the offensive glass.
“Respect the hell out of LeBron, unbelievable player obviously. But his effort on defense hasn’t been good enough this year, and some of these offensive rebounding clips from Houston are egregious on his part,” Vecenie writes- along with some pretty damning video evidence to prove his larger point.
James has been averaging 0.7 offensive boards a year, tied for his second-worst ever.
Vecenie isn’t the only Sam who took to shredding James in the wake of that Rockets disaster.
Former small forward-turned-head coach Sam Mitchell, now an analyst with NBA TV and Sirius XM, took umbrage with James’ offensive decline.
"This is what LeBron doesn't understand, it hasn't sunk in,” Mitchell declared on Sirius XM (hat tip to NBA Central). “Whatever team you go to, you're the third option. You're not going to a team when you're the first option anymore. If you went to the Washington Wizards, you would still not be the number one option."
Through 13 healthy games for the 19-10 Lakers this year, James has been averaging 20.2 points on .485/.311/.667 shooting splits, 6.8 assists, and 5.1 rebounds a night.
Would James be the offensive hub on a team whose best player is currently a very raw Alex Sarr? Despite Mitchell’s protestations, probably yes.
Newsweek