The bottom came in Minnesota on the second night of back-to-back games in early December, LeBron James showing signs that the mileage he’d compiled over 22 seasons of NBA basketball was starting to erode away his invincibility.
The signs had been building before that wintry Monday night. The game before, he bullied mismatches in the fourth quarter of a one-point win against the Utah Jazz that was much harder than it should’ve ever been. He was bad against the Thunder, middling against the Spurs and shook against the Suns and Nuggets.
Over an eight-game stretch from Nov.