1. LeBron James
LeBron James was recently disrespected and did not get a single vote from league executives for being the best player in the league. Because LeBron has defied everything we know about father time at every possible turn, he gets the benefit of the doubt and for us to expect him to be one of the best players in the league next season.
However, just because he has earned the benefit of the doubt from us does not mean he is not at risk of disappointing. At this stage of his career every season has the risk of being a disappointment and eventually that ball is going to drop.
It might not happen this season, heck, it might not happen next season, but father time always wins. It always comes and as much as LeBron can delay it, he physically cannot be this version of LeBron forever.
There is reason to be skeptical about LeBron as well. Not only is his age obviously a concern, but the fact that he suffered a fairly serious ankle sprain and did not look the same afterward is a concern.
It was not a torn Achilles like Kobe Bryant and won’t impact him that way, but we see this all the time with veterans at this stage of their career. Injuries start to pile up as the body is no longer optimized for professional basketball.
The Los Angeles Lakers are absolutely aware of this and that is why the Russell Westbrook trade makes sense for them. Westbrook can help take the load off of LeBron in the regular season and win games that they otherwise would not win because he cares so much about every single game.
We expect LeBron to still be great and it is fair for any fan to expect the same thing. However, that is why he is the player with the biggest risk of disappointing… because it seems like such a surefire thing.