Swept by a gentleman in the first round for two consecutive years! James no longer has the ability to compete for the championship

Sports Weekly All-Media Reporter Li Hui

22 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, which is LeBron James' last data contribution this season. In such a life-and-death battle, James did not turn the tide as he was when he was young, and his performance was not as good as his G3 and G4, which also made the topic of "James is old" once again become a hot search.

40-year-old James is already the player with the strongest output ability in NBA history, but he still cannot escape the impact of time. In this round of the series, in the face of the Timberwolves' strong overall defense, James seemed to be unable to dominate the entire series. Although he averaged 25.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, James' shooting percentage was only 48.9%, which failed to maintain above 50% as he was at his peak. More importantly, at a critical moment of the game, James lost the ability to dominate the game.

The key fourth and fifth games, James made 2 of 9 shots in the fourth quarter, only scored 5 points and 4 assists, including the "iron-blooded two points" in the last moment of the game. In addition, James had a total of -19 positive and negative values ​​in the fourth quarter of these two games. In the fourth game, the Lakers lost in the final battle with the Timberwolves. When the opponent could still drive full power in the final quarter, James finally fell to the face of time.

There is no doubt that the era of championship competition belonging to James has ended. In the past three seasons, James has been swept twice and was swept once. In the series he was eliminated, his team has a total of 2 wins and 12 losses. Facing Jokic and Edwards, James can no longer respond effectively.

Just like in the past two years, when James was out of the playoffs, there were endless topics about whether he would retire in the offseason. In response, James said that he needed time to think carefully. "I don't know how long I will play. There is no answer yet. I will sit down and have a good talk with my family, wife and my team. I will talk to myself about how long I want to continue playing. I don't know what the answer is yet, let's wait and see."

This past season, James and the Lakers have been together. After a lot of experience, he personally achieved a 50,000 milestone in his career, while the Lakers won Doncic with Anthony Davis trade. However, James and Doncic ultimately failed to help the Lakers make a breakthrough. For two consecutive seasons, the Lakers stopped in the first round of the playoffs. Regarding his partner with Doncic, James said, "I still feel that we lack enough time to run in."

40-year-old James finished his 22nd season of his career like this. Can we see James again next season? The answer tends to be yes. After all, he can still make some contributions in this league, but it is undoubtedly becoming increasingly difficult for James's team to return to the championship team, even if he has Doncic around him.