Lebron's Decline

nbafan38 · Post #1 » by **nbafan38** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:14 am

Lebron has shown very little decline for his age but can't imagine he keeps it up forever. By what age will Lebron significantly decline?

Boneman2 · Post #2 » by **Boneman2** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:17 am

He'll start slowing down when he is 36 imo.

Hangtime84 · Post #3 » by **Hangtime84** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:19 am

Lebron offensive best year was this one statistically. His defensive decline has already happened.

Prince187 · Post #4 » by **Prince187** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:26 am

Whatever year the NBA get serious about testing for PED's

Wonderllama · Post #5 » by **Wonderllama** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:29 am

This will be LeBron's last "great" season. He'll be a shell of himself on the Lakers next year

HiRez · Post #6 » by **HiRez** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:31 am

I think it's safe to assume his minutes will stat getting cut in the regular season, and he'll take more games off, since the East is still weak and last year they already proved having the top seed in the East isn't that important. Boston improved, but I don't think they improved enough to beat Cleveland, even with HCA.

I think he still has 2-3 good years left in him. But even a diminished LeBron is still better than most players so he could play for quite a while if he wants to.

RCM88x · Post #7 » by **RCM88x** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:32 am

Hangtime84 wrote:Lebron offensive best year was this one statistically. His defensive decline has already happened.

His defensive peak was probably 2016, most certainly it was the best defensive playoff run of his career. His decline on that end was pretty overstated this season, it was more to do with opponents and roster construction than anything he did worse.

Hangtime84 · Post #8 » by **Hangtime84** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:33 am

RCM88x wrote:
Hangtime84 wrote:Lebron offensive best year was this one statistically. His defensive decline has already happened.

His defensive peak was probably 2016, most certainly it was the best defensive playoff run of his career. His decline on that end was pretty overstated this season, it was more to do with opponents and roster construction than anything he did worse.

Miami Lebron was flying all over the place defensively and was crazy smart helpside.

Joel Embust · Post #9 » by **Joel Embust** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:34 am

He got his hair back, so the league is in trouble.

Augusto61 · Post #10 » by **Augusto61** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:40 am

Prince187 wrote:Whatever year the NBA get serious about testing for PED's

savage

PKABOOICU · Post #11 » by **PKABOOICU** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 2:12 am

I voted 37....but nobody saw Kobe declining so rapidly either. Sometimes it just takes a freak injury. I mean, after 2013, Kobe's game significantly dropped. His injury was devastating to the latter end of his career.
Had it not been for the injury, Kobe would have played elite basketball in 2014 and 2015. Instead, he was OK but wasn't nearly as effective.
Now, Lebron is a bigger and even freakier specimen than Kobe ever was. He's been injury free his whole career, so I dont really see him slowing down due to injury. As of now, only father time can catch him, and he has the ability to adjust his game according to the nature of that specific game, which would ultimately increase his level of durability. I dont see him slowing down in 2-3 years, so age 37 is my answer....and he might push that to 39 too. You never know.

Jboogz23 · Post #12 » by **Jboogz23** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 2:34 am

He may have another year or 2 in him as the best player in the league. After that I'm not sure. I can't picture Lebron even at 36+ not being a top 10 player in the league. His scoring will definitely go down. I can seeing him being Magic like ala 20p 10a 7r type player as he approaches 35 yrs+ (Maybe sooner?) especially since you know he's going to definitely surround himself with talent

joyeuxnoel · Post #13 » by **joyeuxnoel** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 2:38 am

if he doesn't significantly decline by 36, he's going to last to 40

NBAFan93 · Post #14 » by **NBAFan93** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 2:55 am

Thinking about LeBron declining makes me so sad

. I almost wish he'd retire before we ever have to see that.

Tigersrule · Post #15 » by **Tigersrule** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 3:15 am

Lebrons decline starts WHENVER and IF he gets injured seriously...

Post #16 » by **Prez** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 3:58 am

2018-19 season imo. Think he'll be a bit worse next year, but still capable of being the best in the world in a playoff run. But the following season I think he slows down noticeably. Still top 5-7 but not the overwhelming force he is now.

Depends on what you mean by 'significant' decline, like if you're talking when he isn't even a legit MVP caliber player anymore, then probably a couple years after that. So like 2020-21 when he's 36.

Cycloneon · Post #17 » by **Cycloneon** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 3:59 am

He'll decline by 34 if he stays in cleveland playing 36+ minutes a game

-G- · Post #18 » by **-G-** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 4:39 am

I think Lonzo Ball will help him age gracefully.

laika · Post #19 » by **laika** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 4:59 am

1. Kareem---------------66300
2. Karl Malone---------62760
3. Kobe Bryant--------57280
4. Tim Duncan---------56740
5. Jason Kidd----------56200
6. Kevin Garnett------55700
7. Wilt Chamberlain--55420
8. Dirk Nowitzki-------54570
9. Elvin Hayes----------54160
10. John Stockton-----54160

25. LeBron James 50400

Lebron averages about 3500 minutes a year. No player in NBA history has been a top player after 55000 minutes. So that means that Lebron has 1 more year before he has to start doing something that literally NO ONE has ever done. Let's suppose that you think Lebron has the best longetivity in NBA history. Even then I think it would be extremely generous to say that he can do something absolutely unprecedented for more than 3 years.

So the answer to the question is 1-4 years before you start to become ridiculously optimistic.

RSCD3_ · Post #20 » by **RSCD3_** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 5:06 am

If they keep him space with 3/4 guys who can shoot and his jumper stays on he'll look just as explosive North to South even if he slows down a decent bit in the next 2-3 years. People need to remember the spacing effect here, he has held a ton of his explosiveness to the rim though for his age although his hops have decently declined since he got to Cleveland. Also he's compensated with being even smarter with his help and being a team guy on defense but his lateral ability has slowed down since Miami too. He's not the same isolation defender as he used to be

What age will Lebron Significantly Decline