Former Celtics Star Shades Lakers' LeBron James After Thunder Loss

The L.A. superstar may finally be showing signs of age-related decline... on offense!

Nov 29, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell (25) react in the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In his record-tying 22nd season, 20-time All-NBA Los Angeles Lakers power forward LeBron James may finally be showing signs of age-related decline on offense.

The four-time league MVP, who's the oldest active player in the NBA at age 39, got off to a strong 2024-25 start, while simultaneously becoming more deferential to a fellow All-Star than he's ever looked. It's been clear from the jump this season — nine-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA Lakers center Anthony Davis is new head coach J.J. Redick's offensive fulcrum, not James.

Of late, however, James has looked positively uninspired as a scorer. Across his last four contests (during which L.A. has gone 1-3 and been blown out by 25 or more points twice), James is averaging a shockingly pedestrian 16.0 points on .422/.176/1.000 shooting splits, 8.5 assists, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.0 steals.

His most recent effort was an 11-point dud on 5-of-13 shooting from the floor (0-of-4 from deep) and 2-of-2 shooting from the charity stripe in a 101-93 2024 Emirates NBA Cup defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. James also contributed eight rebounds and six assists (against five turnovers).

The Thunder performance inspired former 2008 Boston Celtics champion center Kendrick Perkins (once a teammate of James' on the Cleveland Cavaliers), now an ESPN talking head, to predict that James might call it a career after 2024-25.

It’s looking like this just might be Bron’s last season.

— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) November 30, 2024

The 6-foot-9 power forward is under contract through the 2025-26 season, which would be his record-breaking 23rd in the league. That said, he has a player option, and could choose to decline it and step away for good. His son, 20-year-old Lakers rookie point guard Bronny James, just joined the team this year and seemed to reinvigorate LeBron's excitement in the early part of the year.

Despite this current four-game mini-slump from the elder James, he's still putting up All-Star numbers, even if his scoring consistency may have slipped a smidge. James is averaging 22.3 points on .498/.388/.750 shooting splits, 9.1 assists, 8.2 rebounds and 0.7 steals per bout.

Now at 11-8 on the year, the Lakers are currently the No. 6 seed in a competitive Western Conference. James and Davis have been relatively healthy this season, which given their recent histories (last year aside) is a bit of a surprise. Any long-term absence for either star could prove fatal to L.A.'s postseason chances. The team is currently just two games ahead of the No. 11-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that boasts two 2024 All-Stars and the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and 2.5 games ahead of the Sacramento Kings, a club that boasts three 2023 All-Stars. There's little margin for error. So any prolonged slippage from James would also spell trouble for Los Angeles.

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