LeBron James Is Showing His Age: Should This Be His Final NBA Season?

This year for his 24th NBA season LeBron James has a new story with his numbers. In his first ten games with Philadelphia 76ers he averages 15. 1 points, 7. 2 rebounds and 6. 5 assists and plays 32. 6 minutes a game. Those numbers contrast sharply to his performance last season with LA Lakers where he averaged 20. 9 points, 6. 1 rebounds and 7. 2 assists in 60 games. His scoring has dropped almost 6 points per game and his average for assists has dropped slightly too.

This season shooting numbers stand out even more. James shot 51. 5 percent last year from the field and 31. 7 percent from three but this year those percentages are now 43. 2 and 23. 7 respectively. Rebounds have gone up but his scoring efficiency has dropped. He averages 6. 5 assists and so contributes more than scoring alone. But shooting efficiency is weaker this year and this reduces concerns about how much he still excels offensively. On November 10 against Boston he had another rough game with only 11 points on 4 of 12 shooting and 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

Remember what matters: LeBron does not have to average 25 points per game to remain valuable. His basketball IQ, passing, leadership and experience can still be important. But Philadelphia will need more than just name and reputation if they want to seriously contend for a championship. At this stage of his career more important is to manage his minutes, be available and accept a different role rather than to chase personal scoring highs. It has not yet been confirmed that he will retire at the end of this season so this decision cannot yet be considered final.

So perhaps LeBron James is near the end of his scoring days at the highest level statistics suggest this but do not completely tell his value. If he can still contribute to winning basketball and loves to compete there is a plausible case he should keep playing. On the other hand, if physical strain becomes too severe or he has no interest in playing a role for a contender he might as well retire at the end of this season and conclude a career that will forever be among the greatest in basketball. Whatever he does we are very close to the end of the story of one of the best players of all time.