Why LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers Are Facing a Sudden Crisis | News, results, highlights, statistics and rumors

It’s taken over 20 years, but LeBron James is finally showing signs of being a basketball mortal.

Of course, this statement is also relative for him. He turns 40 this month and is still averaging 22.3 points, 9.0 assists and 7.9 rebounds. These basic numbers are absurd for a player of his age.

But before LeBron went 1 of 4 from deep in Wednesday’s loss, he had missed 20 straight triples over a five-game span. He also averaged a whopping 5.2 turnovers in his last 12 games. And for the entire season, his steal rate of 0.9 per 100 possessions is on track to be easily the lowest of his entire career.

In other words, he’s giving his opponents a lot more possession than he used to, in the form of missed shots and good old-fashioned giveaways. And he doesn’t get many back with thefts.

Combine this style of play from your main playmaker with a stunningly poor defensive performance and you have a recipe for losing.

Again, what LeBron does compared to others who have made it to this age in the NBA is remarkable. But he and the franchise he plays for are measured by titles and whether they win them.

A quarter of this season, he just doesn’t look good enough to lead the Lakers. And the rigors of a full NBA campaign could make things worse.

Right now might be a good time to see if some rest could do LeBron some good.

After a stunning loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves earlier this week, Lakers head coach JJ Redick acknowledged that it might not be in the franchise’s “best interest” for LeBron to play all 82 games.

And this season they are even dramatically worse when he plays.

It might be time for him and the team to miss a few time for injury management to recover physically and mentally.