“In the 20th year of your career, there's never been anybody close to what LeBron James is doing” – NBA analyst criticizes James’ hollow stats, believes he has lost the ability to dominate
LeBron James is still making history twenty years into his NBA career. Specifically, the Akron Ohio native is poised to break a longstanding regular season scoring record this year held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The fact that James is playing in his 20th season is impressive enough let alone the fact that he's doing so at an All-Star level.
The way analyst Chris Broussard sees things, there's one aspect of James' game that has changed - his ability to carry a team. The two seasons following his 2019-20 championship win with the Lakers were rough for James. Over the course of the 2020-21 season, he played in a career-low 45 games before then playing in 56 games last season, where the team missed the playoffs.
During a recent episode of The Odd Couple with Rob Parker, Broussard spoke about the biggest problem facing the storied franchise. The way he sees things, LeBron can fill a stat sheet, but he can no longer carry a team to the playoffs.
"This is not a slight on LeBron because he's in his 20th year, he is by far the best player in the history of basketball at this stage of his career.
"In the 20th year of your career, there's never been anybody close to what LeBron James is doing but Rob he is so smart and so skilled that he knows how to get his numbers in today's NBA."
He continued, speaking about how players who come from Europe have a firm opinion about referees. They say it's easier to score in the NBA considering the frequency with which referees blow their whistle.
"Giannis, Jokic, Luka, they all said it's easier to score in the NBA. Last night Lebron had 31, 14 and 8 and had zero impact on the game.
"I want to watch like the last I want to watch a few weeks of this before I declare LeBron's no longer a top 10 player in the league but last night people might look at his numbers he didn't look like a top 10 player to me."
Considering LeBron James is in his 20th season in the league, it's not entirely surprising that the he isn't able to impact the game the way he used to.
Check out Broussard's comments below on Wednesday's episode of The Odd Couple beginning at the six-minute mark.
LeBron James in year 20 and where the Lakers go from here
Fortunately for LeBron James and the Lakers nation, the 4-time NBA MVP and 18-time All-Star had a much better game Thursday evening. Despite that, the team still lost the battle of LA against the Clippers, who picked up a road win 103-97 at Crypto.com Arena.
Over the course of 37 minutes played, LeBron James racked up a double-double, scoring 20 points to go along with 10 rebounds and six assists. The way Broussard sees things, however, this is just further proof of the fact that James can fill the stat sheet, but he can't carry his team to victory.
"LeBron could have taken me, Rob G, Rob Parker, Alex Teichert and Monce Bolanos to the playoffs in his prime and that's what I'm saying. He still is an All-Star caliber player but he's just that. He's just an All-Star now or a star.
"I mean I want to wait before I say how much I feel like he's dropped but he clearly can't dominate and impact the game like he used to."
With the Lakers season underway, only time will tell whether LeBron James will be able to return to form and lead his team to another NBA Finals appearance.
Check out the highlights from the team's loss to the Clippers below and let us know what you think in the comments section!