Draymond Green: Father Time has ‘caught up’ to LeBron James, but he’s not ‘done’

Draymond Green: Father Time has ‘caught up’ to LeBron James, but he’s not ‘done’

Attempting to play all 82 games for the first time since 2017-18, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has encountered one of the worst offensive stretches of his career barely 20 games into the 2024-25 season.

James, in his age-40 season, is averaging 22.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 9.0 assists on 49.1 percent shooting, including 34.2 percent from 3-point range and 75.8 percent from the free-throw line. The scoring is where we’ve seen the real dip, as that would be his lowest output since his rookie season in 2003-04. Over his last 11 games, he’s averaging just 20.3 points on 45.9/22.0/71.4 shooting splits, though that was ballooned by a 31-point performance against Orlando on Nov. 21 and a 29-point effort against Miami on Wednesday.

When asked if Father Time has caught up to the soon-to-be 40-year-old, Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green offered his thoughts on The Draymond Green Show With Baron Davis.

“Absolutely,” Green said. “Because Father Time catches up to everyone.“

Green doesn’t believe that James is in a free fall decline, however, stating that he think this slump is just a rough patch that he will overcome.

“However, where I disagree, is people are saying, ‘We just saw it. He’s done now. We’ve been waiting on it. Now he’s done.’ No, no, no. I disagree with that. And the reason I disagree with that is because, quite frankly, what it looks like to me right now is that he’s a little tired. … I think Bron has hit a little bit of a wall right now. When you hit walls, you eventually get through the wall.”

Green mentioned the fact that James helped the Lakers vault into the postseason last year before playing in the Olympics over the summer, not allowing much time for him to rest. It would be different if James was 5-10 years younger, but he’s not.

No player in basketball history has produced to the degree that James has entering age-40. The longevity is unprecedented. It was going to catch up to him eventually, though I still believe he’ll progress back to the mean as the season goes on … if he’s not trying to play all 82 games.

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