Let’s cut LeBron James slack in his duel with Father Time

The basketball world has obsessed over LeBron James’ age since he broke into the NBA in 2003.

For the first half of his career, he was the youngest player to reach almost every milestone, so media framed the conversation about him in terms of James versus Michael Jordan at the same age.

For the second half of his career, James has been the oldest player to accomplish major feats, and because he clearly has a leg up on Jordan in the longevity battle, the conversation has shifted to LeBron versus Father Time. 

Yet as James nears his 40^th birthday Dec. 30, he is somehow still throwing haymakers against Father Time.

That being said, LeBron’s past 10 games are worrisome. He’s averaging only 19.8 points and shooting an abysmal 43.8 percent from the field and 21.8 percent from three. Heading into Wednesday’s game at Miami, he’s 0-for-19 from three in his past four games.

If you zoom out and look at James’ season as a whole, he’s still a triple-double threat, averaging 22 points, 9.1 assists and eight rebounds, but the NBA’s all-time leading scorer isn’t scoring as he did in his first six seasons with the Lakers (27 PPG). 

But James’ statistical struggles extend beyond scoring. For the first time in his NBA career, his team is doing better statistically with him off the court (plus-9.6 points per 100 possessions) than on (negative-6.4 points per 100 possessions).

On/off court ratings are not a perfect metric for measuring player performance, but the eye test the past month correlates with the statistical falloff. 

On offense, James is not getting to the basket as easily and is shooting the lowest field-goal percentage at the rim (68.9 percent) since his rookie season. Moreover, he’s attempting the fewest free throws per game (4.5) of his career.

On defense, James switches too easily and gives up on plays too frequently, leading to easily exploitable mismatches and wide-open shots for opponents. He’s often lackadaisical in getting back on defense, which, combined with Anthony Davis’ propensity for falling down on drives, has caused the Lakers to give up the second-most points per possession in transition in the league. 

So are we finally witnessing the knockout punch from Father Time?

There are a handful of reasons to suggest that this recent cold stretch is simply a little rope-a-dope from LeBron and that his fight with Father Time will continue a few more rounds. 

In his 30s, James has always treated the regular season as a steady ramp up to the playoffs so that he’s peaking at the right time. In his final 22 regular-season games last season, he averaged 27.5 points, 9.5 assists, 7.6 rebounds and posted excellent 58-45-77 shooting splits.

Playing in the Olympics this past summer may have James hitting a wall now from a conditioning standpoint. This would seem to track with his jump shot failing him recently. The Lakers are (and definitely should) reconsider playing him in all 82 regular-season games. As first-year Lakers head coach JJ Redick recently said, “I don’t know if that’s in the best interest of him and us if he [plays all 82 games].”

James’ defensive shortcomings during the regular season are nothing new — he’s the oldest player in the league and picks and chooses his spots. When games matter, he turns it up and is a plus defender and help-side rim protector. Look no further than the Olympics in Paris over the summer when he admirably defended Nikola Jokic during Team USA’s tremendous comeback against Serbia.

Redick has made Davis the focal point of the offense, so LeBron is still adjusting to playing off-ball and doing more with fewer opportunities. In fact, he’s attempting the fewest shots of his career (17.3 a game).

So let’s cut James some slack. If any player deserves the benefit of the doubt in his battle against Father Time, he does.