Overreactions from the Los Angeles Lakers’ first week
By Amaar Burton
2. LeBron James is washed up
Make no mistake, the season opener was not a good showing for LeBron James.
Kicking off his 17th pro season — one during which he will turn 35 years old — the clock is inevitably winding down for one of the most durable and consistently dominant athletes the sport has seen.
Against the Clippers, it looked every bit like it was finally LeBron’s turn to submit to Father Time.
He started the game off strong, then appeared to run out of gas late, putting up a pedestrian 18 points on 7-of-19 shooting and failing to make a real impact in crunch time.
Lebron James looked washed up. Yes the stats look good. But look at his percentages and also disappeared when his team needed him the most. I can totally see a decline in his game.
— Vim Buzz (@vimbuzzgh) October 23, 2019
Cue the hot takes.
LeBron is done. He’s washed up. He can’t impose his will on opponents anymore. He’s officially lost whatever “best player in the world” claim he still had. He’s not even the best player on his own team.
Since then, LeBron has issued regular reminders of who he was and who he still is. The four-time league MVP and three-time Finals MVP was his old self against the Jazz, recording 32 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists with only one turnover.
LeBron is taking more of a backseat — look no further than his four-point, eight-assist first half against the Hornets, while Davis scored 25 before the break — but he’s still one of the best in the league.