NBA Power Rankings: Tiering all 30 projected starting small forwards for 2023-24

Phoenix Suns Kevin Durant (Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports)
Phoenix Suns Kevin Durant (Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports)
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LeBron James
Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

4. LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers

It may come across as a bit shocking to see LeBron James not being in tier 1 but that’s just how the aging process works. For as much as LeBron has defied logic for the majority of his career, he’s going to turn 39 years old later this year and the drop in production and efficiency is going to come. But perhaps the first sign of his aging is coming through injuries. For a player who hadn’t been affected all that much by injury, LeBron has had the injury bug bite him a few times over the last few seasons.

He’s played in less than 60 games in each of the last three regular seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers and has pretty much hobbled to the finish line each year. Even after a deep run in this year’s postseason, by the end, you can tell that LeBron was laboring through an injury.

Nevertheless, when he is healthy, he’s still one of the best players in the league. In fact, you can probably make the argument that even when he is hurt, he’s still better than most other players in the league.

Father Time will eventually catch up with LeBron. Will it be this season?