The Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the best teams in the NBA season. As of Tuesday, the Lakers are sitting at 15-5 and trail only the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference.
That’s an impressive feat considering the great LeBron James has only played in five games so far. In the team’s last game, a loss against the Phoenix Suns, James played 31 minutes but ended with just 10 points. Now, a former NBA wing believes James has finally lost a step.
Chandler Parsons Says LeBron James Finally Looks Like His Age
In that game against the Suns, James shot just 3-of-10 from the field and 1-of-4 from deep. The future Hall of Famer ended with 10 points and three assists in the 17-point loss. That 10-point mark was a notable achievement, as James has now reached 10 points in 1,297 consecutive games.
On Tuesday’s episode of FanDuel’s “Run It Back” show, Chandler Parsons took exception to the performance and thinks it’s clear James isn’t the same player he used to be.
“This was the first time in my life I saw an older Lebron James play and look like his age,” Parsons declared. “This just felt like the first step on the way out.”
Chandler Parsons didn’t like LeBron stat padding to continue his 10-point streak 😳
“This was the first time in my life I saw an older LeBron James who played and looked like his age.”@MichelleDBeadle | @boogiecousins | @ChandlerParsons | @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/mDKpd18li5
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) December 2, 2025
Since returning to the court this season, James is averaging 15.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 7.2 assists. This would be by far the lowest scoring total of James’ career, as he never averaged fewer than 20 points per game in a season.
“He definitely was hunting for it (the 10 points), he was not coming out until he got it,” said Parsons. “It felt like the Lakers were kind of catering to his legacy instead of focusing on this season and the game.”
James will notably turn 41 at the end of this month, and there has been considerable speculation about his retirement over the past year.
Lakers Thriving Even Without Vintage James
At any previous time in James’ legendary career, missing a significant chunk of time would have been a death sentence for his team. However, the Luka Dončić-led Lakers have not only survived but also thrived.
Dončić leads the entire NBA with 35.2 points per game. The star guard is also averaging 8.9 boards and 8.9 assists in his first full season with the Lakers.
Fellow guard Austin Reaves is also turning into a full-blown star, averaging 28.1 points, 6.6 assists, and 5.7 boards. The Deandre Ayton reclamation project has also gone well, as Ayton is averaging 15.8 points and shooting a career-best 71.2% from the field.
The Lakers hit the court again on Thursday night against the Toronto Raptors.