Again though if the question is whether LeBron declined, you have to compare LeBron to LeBron. There is no dispute that LeBron led the league in minutes played per game this year, but regardless of how astonishing that accomplishment is (very) it still represents a decline for him: not counting the lockout year the past three years have been the three lowest MP totals of his career. The downward trend is noisy, like most real world data, but it is there nonetheless.

And that is what I saw from LeBron this year that makes me think there’s no way he’ll be putting up production like this five years from now, the continuation of that downward trend and others like it. I don’t think he’ll even be in the league four years from now, but that’s an entirely different question altogether.

We agree that LeBron is doing his best to save his peak for the playoffs, but I feel like the sheer fact that he has to do so is further evidence for my point.