Is this the year LeBron breaks down even more? And, if so, what about the Lakers?

No, this is nowhere near idle speculation.

LeBron James is sixth in career NBA minutes played.

Well, sixth in regular-season minutes.

Because of the length of today's playoffs, and how often James-led teams have done deep, he's already third in total combined minutes, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone , and first in career playoff minutes.

(Update: Basketball-Ref, in acknowledgement of length of playoffs, now combines regular-season & playoff minutes in a new stat. Lebron is 2nd.)

Remember the tail end of their careers?

(Update, March 20, 2022: First, congrats to the King on passing the Mailman. Second, while he still trails both him and Kareem in career regular season minutes, he passed three others already this year into third place. He also has passed everybody but Kareem on combined regular season plus playff minutes.)

Remember how few minutes per game Kareem played his last couple of seasons? Remember the Mailman's ignominy with the Lakers?

By the end of this year, unless it's as badly injury-shortened as last year, the King will be past the Mailman in total minutes and trailing only Kareem. 

Minutes management will be big for Frank Vogel this year.

IF LeBron buys in. The King — who is not a exercise physiologist or anything similar — said this week that load management won't reduce his injury risk. He's wrong, even about fluke injuries like his high ankle sprain last year. Play a couple fewer minutes a game; sit an occasional second game of a back-to-back. You let yourself heal a bit more, plus, just by being out there fewer minutes, you reduce the odds of fluke injury. And, to me, the sitting the second games of back-to-backs should be mandatory, especially if that's a road-game back-to-back.

But?

Even with the Clippers missing Kawhi Leonard for, what, half or more of the regular season, the West will be tough. I've seen the Lakers picked at third, and think even that may be a challenge. The Suns, almost certainly, the Jazz, and even the Nuggets if Michael Porter continues to build, along with Aaron Gordon, could all finish ahead of them. Maybe the short-handed Clippers. Maybe even the Warriors, if Klay Thompson is approximately where he was before his rash of injuries and Jordan Poole breaks out. If all of that happens, the Lakers are sixth, guaranteed to play the first round on the road, and pretty much guaranteed on the second round, if they win the first, and barring a rash of upsets. And, we haven't even talked about Luka Doncic and the Mavs, among other teams.

So, if you're load-managing James, how do you stay in the top half of the West?

(Interjection: Red Satan thinks the Lake Show is the top team in the West, something I find laughable, as well as perhaps pandering to readers to watch any Lakers games it might broadcast.

 Update, Oct. 25: Red Satan has dropped the Lakers to eighth in its first Power Ranking of the regular season. The Jazz, Nuggets and Dubs are all ahead of them in the West/)

Play Anthony Davis more? Remember his own injury history.

Turn the keys over to Russell Westbrook and load manage both LBJ and AD? But, isn't there the temptation that Russ reverts to old habits (and hurts team chemistry in doing so) when he's given the keys as the first option?

And, this top-heavy team has few other options. Like the 2004 Lakers, it's signed veteran wanting rings, but who are past prime themselves. It's "top heavy," and probably stuck. Carmelo Anthony? 18 years. Dwight Howard and Trevor Ariza? 17. Rajon Rondo? 15. Melo's in the top 30 in career regular season minutes and Howard is in the top 50. Lil Russ is just outside the top 100. I know a lot of fans have some idea about how old the Lakers are, but not an idea that they're THAT old.

This is also a team, while filled with players with past great defensive performances, may be challenged as much as skilled on that side of the ball, especially against quicker teams with a lot of motion and a lot of high-octane breaking.

I'd personally be surprised if they make it past the second round.

And, they're "stuck" next year as well, with all three amigos on the books for essentially the same salaries.

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In my full preview of the West, in brief?

1. Suns
2. Jazz
3. Nuggets
4. Clipps 
5. Warriors
6. Mavs
7. Lakers
8. Blazers

Yes, I think LeBron and the Gang could fall as far as No. 7. (That said, the whole 4-7 outlook seems kind of muddled, and any one of the top 3 will fall if they have a major injury.)