A happy birthday song for the upcoming 37-year-old James Sr
The twilight of the superstar career is bleak, which is the result of objective laws, and no one can escape the pursuit of the old man of time.
Most of the superstars have either retired at the age of 37 or have become veterans of the team's dressing room, playing the role of mentors for young players. There are very few stars who can still kill at the age of 37 or older, and only a few people in history, such as Michael Jordan, Carl Malone, Karim Abdul-Jabbar, etc. These 3 places are all in the top 5 in the historical scoring list.
Now, LeBron James has also joined the Pantheon. On December 30, Beijing time, James celebrated his 37th birthday. In theory, James should be going downhill at this age, and his performance at the beginning of the season is indeed not as good as in the past. However, since returning from an abdominal injury, James has greatly improved his stats with his killing performance, averaging 27.4 points per game plus 6.8 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.7 steals and 1 block, shooting 51.7% from the field. In terms of combined statistics, James is even stronger than when he was 33 or 34 years old, and better than his first season when he returned to the Cavaliers at 30.
Even if you don't consider the storyline that adds to his legend by being forced to top the number five at the age of 37, and only considering the data, James is a unique existence compared to the great stars in history. When James is healthy, you'll hardly find signs of slipping in him, and he's still a strong contender for the league's first man.
The data shows that at the age of 37 or older, the only players who can average 20+ points per game are James, Abdul-Abdul-Jabbar, Malone and Jordan. Before James, the highest scoring per game in a single season was Jabbar, in the 1985-86 season, the 38-year-old Jabbar averaged 23.4 points per game, while the 37-year-old Jabbar averaged 22 points per game. In addition, at the age of 37, Malone averaged 23.2 points per game. As for Jordan at the age of 37, he is in the middle of his second retirement. After the 38-year-old returned to the Wizards, Jordan averaged 22.9 points and 20 points per game in both seasons.
In other words, at the age of 37 or older, James is the player who averaged the highest number of points per game in a single season, and that number is greatly improved. James, meanwhile, averaged more than 27 points, six rebounds and six assists per game, and he was the first player to be able to play such a stat at the age of 37.
Compared with the high-level statistics, James is still the only one, his BPM (reflecting the influence of players) reached 6.8, surpassing the 37-year-old Stockton and Malone (6.7), setting a record for players aged 37 or older.
No matter how athletic a star is when he is young, as he ages, injuries strike, his athleticism will inevitably decline, and when the star reaches his twilight years, he will not rely on physical talent or the advantage of the technical flow of timely transformation. Abdul-Jabbar, Malone and Jordan's mid-range shots support their elite performances after the age of 37.
It is said that James's decline in the state after age will be obvious, and the industry has always had this concern, but James has changed the traditional perception, in the words of ESPN data expert Kevin Palton: "James reversed the time curve." James's true shooting percentage remains 61.4 percent this season, and among the 15 players who still averaged at least 15 points per game after the age of 37, James ranked second in this statistic, behind the 37-year-old Abdul-Jabbar in 1984-85.
The results of this comparison are shocking enough to reflect James's greatness, but if we consider that this comparison is not fair to James who entered the NBA after graduating from high school, then it can only be said that James's greatness can be further advanced.
Why is this comparison unfair to James? Because Abdul-Jabbar, Malone, and Jordan all played in college for at least 2 years before entering the NBA, their consumption at the age of 37 was not as great as James's. At the age of 37, James experienced the 19th season of his career, while Abdul-Abdul-Jabbar and Malone were both 16th seasons of their careers, while Jordan returned at 38 and played less than 13 seasons due to two retirements. In addition, James's playtime in the playoffs, the number of appearances in the international arena, and the time are also higher than those of the older generation of stars.
Comparing James' performance in season 19 of his career with his performance in the 19th season (or later) of his other stars' careers, James' advantage is even more pronounced. In his 19th season (or later), only 2 players averaged more than 20 points per game, with the exception of James and kobe Bryant, who averaged 22.3 points per game but shot just 37.3 percent from the field, already very inefficient.
Looking at the BPM, in the 19th season of his career, James' BPM of 6.8 beat the players behind him, and Stockton's 2002-03 statistic was 5, when he was 40 years old. After that, only Jason Kidd and Tim Duncan have more than 3. What is this concept? That is to say, James's influence in the 19th season of his career is still in the top 10 levels of the league, and a few stars can still rank in the top 20 and 30 of the league in the 19th season of his career, and most of the stars' influence has become negative.
Not long ago, former NBA player Eddie Johnson lamented on Twitter: "It's crazy that James, who is about to turn 37, will still be under fire for struggling. He has an Anthony Davis at the top of his side, but his performance has not lived up to expectations. Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, Olajuwon, and Jordan are no longer as influential at the age of 37, and you can tell how great James is. ”
The 37-year-old James is great enough that even if the season is not finished, it can now be said that he is "the greatest star at the age of 37". However, the stronger james performance of this age, the more it seems that the veteran is sad.
The Lakers' performance this season was really miserable, and they barely won against the rebuilding Rockets, ending a 5-game losing streak. The Lakers, who underwent major surgery on the lineup in the offseason, currently have a 50% win rate. Originally, the Lakers management wanted to reduce the burden on James, but the burden on James was not alleviated, but increased significantly. James averaged 37 minutes per game, and he had a lot of time to play as a center for the team, and his bravery was also full of helplessness.
Compared with The Twilight OfEbal, James could only wipe a handful of bitter tears secretly. After The year Jabbar turns 37, Magic Johnson has gradually reached the top. From the 1984-85 season to the 1987-88 season, the Lakers won the championship three times in four seasons, and Abdul-Jabbar was 40 years old and could still lift the championship trophy. But what about James? Davis regained his glassman physique after winning the championship, Russell Westbrook did not perform at all, and the team's role players also lacked highlights. James played a terrible performance against the growth of one person, but because there was no reliable helper around him, he could not bring too many victories to the team.
In 2017, Pelton studied James' performance at all ages, and he concluded that as he grew older, James' regular-season performance began to decline slightly after the age of 27. However, James can always greatly improve his performance in the playoffs, which is what we often call the playoffs.
Last season, due to an ankle injury, the playoffs did not see full strength. This season, James was forced to turn on the full-strength Zhan mode in the regular season, which is not a good thing for the Lakers. What's worse is that no matter how long James's full-strength Zhan mode can last, even if it can last until the end of the season, with the Lakers' current bad situation, they may not be able to enter the playoffs, which is probably the most sad place for James.