3 career-worst stats in play for LeBron James this year

Human beings contain multitudes, so while it might seem contradictory to present the following two statements, that doesn't make them both any less true.

LeBron James is one of the best players in the NBA, even in this, his 22nd season.

LeBron James is having one of the worst seasons of his career.

It's legitimately incredible that an NBA player could be 40 years old and averaging 23.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 8.8 assists for a team that is in playoff contention in the Western Conference. LeBron may not be the heliocentric force that he once was, but although the Los Angeles Lakers revolve now around Anthony Davis, LBJ still has an undeniable gravity that his team couldn't do without.

Much as Tom Brady redefined what a quarterback could accomplish late in his career, LeBron is doing things that no 40-year-old has ever done before on the basketball court. It seems that every time he plays, he's setting new records and breaking new ground, which only further bolsters his case for being one of the best players to ever lace them up.

There's no shame in it, but there's also no denying that LeBron is slipping. His minutes are down for the third year in a row, and there are indicators that he's just not able to give the same level of effort that he used to. Again, that's not a knock, because he's been carrying teams to the Finals his entire career. It is reality though, and it's a clear sign that the end of his basketball journey is approaching.

LeBron's greatness has been consistent throughout his career. The man has been in the NBA since 2003, and there's not a single season that even his biggest detractors could point to and say, "That was a bad year for LeBron." He's been non-stop excellent for over two decades. For our purposes today, that's a good thing, because it makes it easy to see where he's taken a step back this year. The following are three stats that could end up being LeBron's career-worst.

LeBron is shooting a career-low 4.3 free throws per game

LeBron has put in the work to improve his outside shot and add additional elements to his game throughout the years, but the one thing that he's always been able to count on is that when the going gets tough, there's nobody in the NBA that can stop him from getting to the basket.

LeBron is famous for pouring so much money into maintaining his body, and that investment has paid off on the court, as it's allowed him to drive to the basket and absorb contact like nobody the game has ever seen. This year though, LeBron has been a bit more reluctant to drive than he has in the past, as he's well below his previous lowest free throw rate of 5.7 per game.

LeBron has shot 5.7 free throws per game in three of the last five years, and his other two seasons in that stretch were slightly above it. We should probably be marveling at his ability to maintain that rate even after turning 35, but we also can't ignore how it's nosedived this year.

The NBA's defensive rules have continuously changed over the course of time, but this stat can't be chalked up to referees letting defenders get more physical. LeBron's teammate Anthony Davis is second in the NBA with 8.24 attempts, so it's not like the Lakers aren't getting whistles.

The "stock" market is looking bearish for LeBron

Despite the low free throw rate, LeBron's offensive contributions are still extraordinary. The most obvious area where he's slipping though, is his defense.

NBA statheads know stocks as the number of steals plus blocks that a player amasses. LeBron has been criticized for his lack of defensive effort in recent years, and stocks are where it's most obvious to see.

LeBron is averaging just .8 steals per game, the lowest number of his career. He's also only blocking .5 shots per game, which is tied for his second-worst output ever. Put them together and you get just 1.3 stocks, which is below even the 1.5 stocks he put up two years ago.

It's kind of funny that the signature moment of LeBron's career was his Game 7 chase-down block of Andre Iguodala in the 2016 NBA Finals since blocking shots has never been one of his most notable skills. Only four times in his career has LeBron averaged at least a block per game, and he's never gone over 1.1.

The Lakers traded for Dorian Finney-Smith nearly two weeks ago in part because of LeBron's diminished defensive ability. Combined with Austin Reaves, whom the shorthanded Dallas Mavericks relentlessly hunted to great effect in Tuesday night's win over L.A., that's made it difficult for the Lakers to get stops. LeBron and company rank 21st in the league in team defensive rating despite having Anthony Davis to protect the rim.

LeBron is on pace to shatter the worst plus/minus of his career

There have only been two seasons in which LeBron finished with a negative plus/minus — his rookie season, in which he finished -144 for the year, and the 2021-22 season, in which he finished -117.

LeBron played 79 and 56 games in those seasons, which makes his per-game plus/minus not so bad. This year, he's played 33 games and is already -131, which is just about a -4 per game, nearly twice as bad 2021-22's -2.09.

This begs the unthinkable question — are the Lakers a better team with LeBron off the floor? They're 2-1 in games that LeBron has missed this year, and they were 6-5 without him last year. L.A. has a -56 point differential for the year, which means they're +75 when LeBron sits. LeBron is still playing 34.9 minutes per game, so they're that positive in less than 14 minutes per game.

Nothing happens in a vacuum, so we should keep in mind that if LeBron didn't play anymore, his minutes would go to bench guys that would now be playing against the other team's starters. LeBron may not be the player he once was, but let's get real, JJ Redick would not be better off with Gabe Vincent and Cam Reddish taking his minutes.