'It's looking like this might be Bron's last season' - Kendrick Perkins' hot take ruffled some feathers on X

Is this the year we see "The King" decline?

Perkins' tweet wasn't done to purposely gain engagement or trigger a reaction from a specific group of audience, even though he did receive a lot of hate comments from LeBron fans. It can actually be considered a genuine statement given how the 39-year-old forward has been playing as of late.

Not only did the four-time champion commit five uncharacteristic turnovers against OKC, but shot just 5-13 from the field and 0-4 from the three-point line. The eye-test also indicated that he seems to be a step slower and understandably doesn't get back in transition which hurts the team a lot. James is also averaging his lowest points 22.9 per game since his rookie year.

When asked about his performance as of late, the Lakers superstar said that he's not worried about his lapses and it's part of the process of him just handling the ball more since D'Angelo Russell was moved to the bench.

"Trying to make the right play. Some of them are just not good reads; some of them are. For some of them, I can be a little bit more careful, but at the end of the day, I'm trying to make winning plays, so it's not a big deal for me," James said.

James still deserves the benefit of the doubt

Perhaps James could be right and say that his underwhelming play lately is just him adjusting to his new role. After all, the trend in the NBA's all-time leading scorer's career is that he normally gets off to a slow start and then picks it up as the season goes on. So, if there's anyone who deserves the benefit of the doubt, it's indeed the veteran who has played 22 seasons in the league.

That said, if this season is indeed the one where James declines, then that won't be a surprise either. Like Perkins said, it might very well be his last year, and even LeBron himself talked about that possibility just two weeks ago. In fact, it's ridiculous that "The King" is even averaging 22.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 9.3 assists and has played all 19 of the Lakers' games so far at 39 years of age. Some may be sick of hearing this, but once again, this is a reminder that what James is doing is indeed unprecedented.

The question that remains is how much longer can James continue to sustain this. In Perkins's opinion, it will end very soon.