Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid seems to think that LeBron James has lost a step.
During a recent interview with the New York Times about Team USA as they head into the Olympics, Joel Embiid did not hold back his true thoughts as he made it clear that he thinks that LeBron James is not the same player that he was “a couple of years ago.”
“You look at the talent that the U.S. has, but there’s equal talent on other teams. And the talent that’s on the U.S. team, you also got to understand most of those guys are older. The LeBron now is not the LeBron that was a couple of years ago. So it’s a big difference,” Embiid said.
“Everybody would also tell you, and you can see for yourself, the athletic LeBron, dominant that he was a couple of years ago, is not the same that he is now. I think people get fooled by the names on paper. But those names have been built throughout their career, and now they’re older. They’re not what they used to be.”
It’s worth noting that despite Embiid’s claims, James actually averaged more points, rebounds, and assists this past season than he did during his first season back with the Cleveland Cavaliers a decade ago.
But clearly, Embiid thinks this is reality.
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