The 2022-23 campaign ended in disappointment for LeBron James as he was swept out of the playoffs for just the third time in his career.
He wasn’t quite at his very best in the postseason, and NBA analyst Ric Bucher claims that James just isn’t a dominant player anymore.
“To me, it means that his days as a dominant player, a game-changing player, are over,” Bucher said on Speak. “And he recognizes that… What did we often say with LeBron for years in Cleveland, give him just about anything, he did it in 2020 in the Bubble, like just give him a little bit of talent around him and he can figure out a way to get it done. Well, they transformed this team right, to give him as much as they possibly could give him.”
"His days as a dominant player, a game-changing player, are over."@RicBucher on LeBron pic.twitter.com/2adrGI0zA7
— Speak (@SpeakOnFS1) May 23, 2023
LeBron certainly isn’t the player he was during his second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers or in his first couple of seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, but to say his days as a dominant player are over is a bit too much. LeBron averaged 28.9 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 6.8 APG, 0.9 SPG, and 0.6 BPG while shooting 50.0% from the field during the regular season and those are some pretty good numbers. James said he is still better than 90-95% of the players in the league and you can argue that number could be even higher.
LeBron James Just Wasn’t The Same Following His Foot Injury
Before he suffered that foot injury back in February, LeBron was averaging 29.5 PPG on the season and no one was talking about him not being a dominant player anymore. Everything changed after that injury, however, and the numbers show it. His scoring dipped to 25.5 PPG on his return in the regular season and then in the playoffs, he averaged 24.5 PPG.
He claimed that two doctors told him to get season-ending surgery on his foot, but he wanted to play on. It certainly contributed to him not being at his best and now it seems almost certain he will have some sort of surgery in the offseason. Provided he makes a full recovery, you can expect LeBron to put up big numbers once again in 2023-24.
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