If there were ever a time when you’d expect LeBron James to slow down, it would be this year. Not because of eroding skills or because of sapped athleticism, but because conventional wisdom said there was no better time for him to choose to.
The challenge of last season cannot be overstated for LeBron. From the Darryl Morey tweet that sparked controversy in China right as the Lakers flew their for preseason games to Kobe’s devastating and untimely death in a January helicopter crash and the subsequent grieving to COVID-19 shutting down the season in March to the Orlando Bubble restart and the resulting isolation from July through October, the mental burden James carried as a leader of the franchise and face of the league was all too real.