According to the odds, LeBron James is expected to accomplish another career first this upcoming season.
For the first time ever, he will average fewer than 20 points per game.
Now, that’s just a projection, as opposed to a sure thing. As of Aug. 20, DraftKings Sportsbook has James at -160 to average 18+ points per game next season, and at +180 to average 20+ points, meaning he’s favored to land in the 18-19 PPG range.
Why is that newsworthy? Well, again — it’s never happened.
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James will enter his 24th NBA season, and here are his averages by year:
LeBron James PPG By Season
2003-04: 20.9
2004-05: 27.2
2005-06: 31.4
2006-07: 27.3
2007-08: 30
2008-09: 28.4
2009-10: 29.7
2010-11: 26.7
2011-12: 27.1
2012-13: 26.8
2013-14: 27.1
2014-15: 25.3
2015-16: 25.3
2016-17: 26.4
2017-18: 27.5
2018-19: 27.4
2019-20: 25.3
2020-21: 25
2021-22: 30.3
2022-23: 28.9
2023-24: 25.7
2024-25: 24.4
2025-26: 20.9
There you have it. James has never come in at under 20 a night, and the closest he got to averaging fewer than 20 was in his rookie season and his 23rd season. He averaged just under 21 both years.
While his role in Philadelphia has yet to be revealed to the public, there is the idea floating that James will become more of a facilitator for a Sixers team that features Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid, three multi-time All Stars.
Maxey averaged 28.3 points last season, Embiid averaged 26.9 and Brown averaged 28.7 with the Celtics.
James does have experience with dishing. The lone season he played dedicated point guard came in 2019-20 with the Lakers. That year, he led the NBA in assists (10.2), and he’s averaged over seven assists 15 times in his career.
Only once has he averaged fewer than six assists in a season — his rookie year, when he averaged 5.9.
James’ average could also simply come down to how many shot attempts he gets. He has shot over 50% from the field 15 times in his career, and he’s never shot fewer than 17.6 times per game outside last season, when he took 15.3 shot attempts.
