Is LeBron James losing his title as “ The best player in the world “?

The 2018 offseason was looking to completely change up the landscape of the NBA. Kawhi Leonard was traded to the Raptors, Paul George stayed in OKC, Demarcus Cousins pulled a Kevin Durant and went to the best team in basketball (Golden State). The most controversial move maybe of all time however, was LeBron James signing a 4 year deal ( Option after year 3) with the Los Angeles Lakers. The hype at the time were mountains high, people were comparing LeBron to Kobe, some questioned the move but all in all everyone agreed at the time LeBron going to LA is a blessing from the basketball gods. Hope In LA was reborn after a six year run without sniffing the playoffs. The common idea was that Lebron would come to LA and another star would join him and one of the lakers young core would develop into a future all star (this being either Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma or Brandon Ingram) and eventually the lakers would win a championship, or possibly multiple. We are now 64 games in, and the lakers currently sit at 10th in the west.. With LeBron aging, with him losing the last two finals to the warriors and Kevin Durant winning MVP, it’s getting to a point where it’s now a debate, you can have that conversation and argue that Lebron James is no longer the best player on the planet. Guys like Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokonumpo, Paul George, James Harden , are all having a better season , look better, and are playing statistically better than LeBron James. Mind you, we also have to look at the other side of things such as LeBrons groin injury , Lonzo going down early in the season with an ankle injury, trade drama and other such things. However in terms of play, the eye test and even the statistics, you can absolutely make the argument that he is not the best player in the NBA, he has declined significantly on the defensive end, and leadership was been a whole other language to him this season. From this point on, the debate/ throne for the title “best player in the world” is now truly up for debate, and Lebron James is no longer the top name on this list for the debate.