“It’s looking like this just might be Bron’s last season.” This is what NBA Champion and ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins Tweeted (X’d?) at midnight on November 30th, right after the Lakers’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder; a game where LeBron James had an uncharacteristic 12 points in 34 minutes of play, going 0-4 from beyond the arc and turning the rock over five times. The game acted somewhat like a button to a series of games by “The King” whose performance in the Lakers’ prior four games was frankly a little unbefitting for someone who’d carried that moniker for over two decades. Even his 16-point triple-double against the Spurs on November 27th wasn’t pretty as James only really turned it “on” in the second half of the fourth quarter.

This string of “bad” games might have come to an end last night when James’ numbers returned to his kingly self against the Utah Jazz, putting 27 points on the board and dishing out a whopping 14 assists. Yet, one thing persisted as the clock winded down to zero and the Lakers players made their way to the locker room–LeBron’s demeanour.

I’ve been watching LeBron James for a very long time. Since 2004, to be precise. I’ve seen the many highs and the infrequent lows of this man’s career. And throughout it all, I’ve seen how he carried himself. From frustratedly taking off his wine and gold Cavaliers jersey in the tunnel after a playoff loss to the Boston Celtics, right before he would take his talents to South Beach, to his evil death glare in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against that same team a couple of years later where he went for 45 points on 73% shooting to force a Game 7.

I’ve seen when the man’s been content with the roster he was playing with, and the (many) times he’s been not-so-content with the talent around him. Unfortunately, folks, we’re once again in a moment where it’s looking like the latter is true for how LeBron is feeling about his current Lakers squad. The problem is, it seems like James is no longer in the mental space where he’s willing to brute force his way to wins when his team needs him to. And that, maybe, could be the reason for his recent slump. Not because James cannot take over games when his teammates are faltering (trust me, he can), but because the NBA regular season is a grind and a half and James needs to protect his nearly forty-year-old body and is no longer willing to put his entire team on his back for a relatively inconsequential regular season game–something he’s (frustratedly) done time and time again throughout his career.

Once again, LeBron James is almost forty-years-old. The man has and continues to defy “father time,” breaking records and putting up numbers previously unheard of for a player his age. Yet, he still competes. Problem is, the players around him often do not. Or at least they don’t (or are accustomed to) do so at the level LeBron has since the man has ostensibly been in diapers. That can be frustrating for a player of his calibre. The difference this time around, however, is that when previously James could take that frustration out on the court and go for 45, he can no longer afford to do so now.

I use “afford to” and not “wants to” or “is able to” purposefully. “Father Time” has only grazed LeBron James but is far from having fully taken hold of the forty-year-old’s body. The folks on social media can often be like goldfish, completely forgetting what had transpired only a few weeks ago. Because in the beginning of November, LeBron was averaging around 26 points and 12 assists. Those are better than the Miami Heat LeBron’s numbers. “The King” is alive and well and can still play at a high level. His recent shooting woes and turnovers need to be addressed, but what’s more concerning is the way he’s carrying himself on the court. There’s a lack of passion and vigour in the way James has been interacting with both his teammates and the game itself.

The stats don’t worry me. It’s been new head coach JJ Redick’s plan all along to have the ball less in LeBron’s hands and make him an off-ball playmaker, scoring only when James needs to. LeBron sunsetting his career as a solid 18-8-10 guy is something I’m sure the forty-year-old wouldn’t mind doing for the next couple of seasons if the Lakers are winning. The problem is, they’re not winning, and James is tired of being “the guy” who needs to pull them through wins by sheer force. LeBron has been looking to hand over the mantle to a teammate for nearly a decade at this point. He thought he had “the guy” in Kyrie Irving, but we all know what happened there. He’s been trying to make Anthony Davis “the guy” for some time now, and though Davis has been having a stellar season, he’s still not the centrepiece of the Lakers both on and off the court.

Much of this is unintentionally (and maybe even a little intentionally) self-inflicted, of course. James is one of the greatest minds the game has ever seen and is one of the most decorated athletes of all time, and he knows it. He knows the power and influence he wields. He can go to any team in the NBA, irrespective of if he’s 29, 39, or even 49, and he knows he’s going to be “the guy.” The hurdle for him and JJ now is figuring out how to play Lakers basketball in a way where James can remain “the guy,” but in a way that doesn’t rely on him needing to play nearly forty minutes and put up nearly as many points each game.