The harsh reality is that Old Man Time is invincible after all, and the curtain on LeBron's career looks like it's about to close. Various statistics this season show that his personal influence has reached the lowest level in the past eleven years, and the advanced statistics on both offensive and defensive ends have a serious downward trend.

It's not surprising that LeBron is still in the top 20 in the NBA at the age of 40, and how he survives in the latter stages of his career is the focus of discussion. To this day, he is still a monster who can come and go freely in the restricted area, but there is indeed a difference between the 35-year-old, 30-year-old, and 25-year-old stage.

For example, this shot is as tank-like as ever, but it needs to be noted that LeBron made the choice here: turn and shake off Keegan Murray's arm hard, then give a small hit to take the lead, and finally make another run to make sure he can reach the finish first. It can be found that compared with the previous cuts, Lao Zhan now has a lot of small movements, and the most redundant is the last impact, and LeBron at his peak is definitely rushing to the basket.

Through these subtle moves, it can be found that although LeBron still has a way to be one step ahead of his opponent, he no longer has too much confidence in his second acceleration, and he is beginning to worry that defenders will catch up. In the past, LeBron inadvertently showed suffocating power and made the opponent feel pressure; Now it's like a deliberate emphasis, "Am I strong?" ”

However, LeBron was able to distribute his physical strength very intelligently during the game and maintained his body well, so it is still not a problem to break into the penalty area, so the following figure can see the distribution of shots in the past two seasons, and the shots in the penalty area still account for the majority.

But comparing the lists in the two charts, do you find any difference between the frequency (FREQ%) column and the "By Rim" column?

That's right! LeBron's shot from the basket counted!

This shows that even if he can still hit the interior in this kind of power-type way, he doesn't really have much room to shoot when he gets to the basket. According to the Basketball Index database, both Rim shot making efficiency, which measures the grasp of the basket, and Finishing Talent, which tests the creativity and finishing ability, are the lowest in LeBron's career in the past 12 years.

So where have all these under-the-basket shots gone?

Let's take a look at what the 40-year-old has set again. In the 20-year Lakers season and the 18-year Cavaliers season, Lao Zhan was a full-time ball handler, so the number of assists was a career-high, which is still easy to understand. Then if you look down, you can find that the third place is actually 25 years? But the Lakers didn't deliberately ask a 40-year-old to play point guard this season?

I believe that smart and clever fans should be able to think of it, right? The 40-year-old LeBron is no longer a scorer in the box, but has a playmaker mentality, and after cutting in, he trusts his teammates on the perimeter more. Again, this claim can be verified by the data, and this season LeBron has the second-highest probability of passing after cutting in.

But if the chances in the penalty area are not good, is there still a chance to attract the help defense? Will there still be a lot of gap between teammates?

It is not possible, so according to the Basketball Index database, LeBron's passing creation quality and passing assist rate are both career lows this year. Therefore, we can understand that Lao Zhan's playmaking ability in his 22nd season has been developed through more willingness to pass the ball, rather than stronger creativity.

This brings us to another very heavy question:

Will the NBA's highest scoring total still score?

Of course it will, but in a different way. From "I have to do this" to "I can do this". From the original teammates to cooperate with his scoring ability, it is transformed into catering to the firepower of teammates to find his own scoring opportunities.

To put it simply, it's more mathematical basketball: through two cut-to-the-layups, two fast-break scores, two back-frame singles, two fixed-point three-pointers, two sliding after setting up a screen, and two off-ball runs, you can probably average 24 points per game.

It sounds simple, but I guess there are not many people in history who can play like this, because only a mastery of multiple offensive modes can dominate the mathematics of basketball.

So can this version of the LeBron still make it to the top?

As LeBron's efficiency in cutting passes wanes, the pressure will pile up on handling the ball in his hands. When Lao Zhan is reduced to cover and play without the ball, the blocker must shoulder a greater responsibility. Today's LeBron prefers to be a solid base for his teammates to play freely. This is not to underestimate the rest of his teammates, Davis and Rivers are excellent ball-handlers, but we're talking about replacing the smartest basketball brains of all time, which is inevitably a little too much to ask of them. This flaw will be magnified in the playoffs, when whether or not LeBron's CD of active offensive skills can be shortened is perhaps the biggest factor in how far he can go this season.

Of course, LeBron's aging defense will also be a big problem, and he can no longer handle the demands of defensive positioning. As an assistant defender, you must not only grasp the rotation of the assistant defense, but also be very good at creating opportunities for counterattacks. However, Lao Zhan's stocks data (intercepts + blocks) has degraded very significantly, from 1.8 times last year to only 1.3 times this year. When someone's fitness is no longer reliable, Stocks is an immediate figure. So when LeBron wants to intercept a pass, he no longer has the speed that he used to immediately catch up with the opponent and make mistakes in anticipation, and over time he no longer trusts his physical ability and no longer forces the opportunity to counterattack.

The instability of the defense and the inability to take over the game with a single army make the Lakers' championship chances a little slim, and these are the realities brought about by the old man of time. However, LeBron is still fighting with him, using his life's experience, good health management, through transformation and sublimation of ball skills, Lao Zhan still wants to continue to stand on the court, and wants to lift the O'Brien Cup again!