LeBron James is second in the league in minutes per game, and despite taking six full games off, he's still ninth in total minutes.

Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com

Superstars James' age don't play this much in this era

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A 32-year-old superstar, in this era, shouldn't play as much as LeBron James has played this season. None do.

When it comes to playing time, stop the Michael Jordan comparisons back to an era when the NBA thought very differently about the minutes it put on its superstars. Examine James in his own context.

This is too much. We'll show the minutes of the greats of the recent past to prove it. James is the exception to every rule in basketball, and the Cavs are putting that to the test by failing to live up to the promise of tailoring the minutes of the 14-year veteran.

You can't argue this is normal. You can only wonder if this will keep the Cavs from the most effective version of James in the playoff, when he'll face younger, fresher stars whose teams didn't ride them this way through a six-month season.

At age 32, James is the only player 30 years or older ranked in the top 10 in the league in total minutes. Even while sitting out a full six games of the 79 the Cavs have played so far, James ranks ninth in total minutes played after his game-high 41 minutes in Friday night's loss to Atlanta.

That was six more minutes than any other Cav, 15 more than any Hawk.

At 2,747 total minutes, James sits ninth in the league in minutes.

That's well ahead of 28-year-old Steph Curry (2,580 minutes), well ahead of 25-year-old Kawhi Leonard (2,389), well ahead of 26-year-old Draymond Green (2,625), well ahead of 27-year-old Isaiah Thomas (2,482), ahead of Klay Thompson and Paul George and DeMar DeRozan and Anthony Davis, all younger stars with less court time.

Even for James, it has been a lot to ask.

By Doug Lesmerises, cleveland.com

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New York's Carmelo Anthony is third in the league in minutes played among players 30 or older.

Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com

Check the NBA's other 30-somethings

According to basketball-reference.com, there are 116 NBA players aged 30 or older. Entering Friday's games, seven ranked in the top 50 in the league in total minutes:

• James, 9th

• Trevor Ariza, 14th

• Carmelo Anthony, 26th

• Marcin Gortat, 29th

• Wesley Matthews, 32nd

• Marc Gasol, 36th

• Courtney Lee, 43rd

Remember, this isn't minutes per game, where James ranks second in the league, behind only Toronto's Kyle Lowry. This is total minutes, taking into account the six full games he stayed on the bench. So this acknowledges that rest -- and he's still this high, in a class by himself in his peer group.

He's the best player in that group, of course.

It doesn't mean he has to play this much.

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Corey Kluber pitches in an era of decreased workload for pitchers, just like LeBron James plays in an era of fewer minutes for basketball players.

Chuck Crow, The Plain Dealer

Basketball has changed like baseball

If you're trying to compare James to 30-somethings of the past when it comes to how much he plays, stop.

The game has changed. Somewhere in the '80s and '90s, managers and pitching coaches and general managers and the best arms in Major League Baseball decided that starting pitchers no longer needed to throw 15 or 20 complete games a year and push 300 innings.

No pitcher has thrown 300 innings since Steve Carlton in 1980. None has thrown 270 since Randy Johnson in 1999. None has thrown 250 since Justin Verlander in 2011.

So today, no one wonders why the Indians' Corey Kluber has never thrown more than 236 innings in a season, or completed more than four games in a year. In the '90s, every season had a pitcher with at least 10 complete games. In the '70s, the league leaders were well into the 20s in complete games.

Now? One player in the last 17 years, James Shields in 2011, has thrown at least 10 complete games in a season.

The same has happened in basketball.

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Minnesota's Andrew Wiggins, who is 22, leads the NBA in minutes.

Thomas Ondrey, The Plain Dealer

The disappearing 3,000-minute players

In 1967-68, the first year of the 82-game schedule, 11 guys played at least 3,000 minutes, with 31-year-old Wilt Chamberlain setting a record for an 82-game season that still stands - 3,836 minutes.

In 1990-91, 18 guys played 3,000 minutes.

In 2000-01, 22 guys.

In 2003-04, 18 guys, with 19-year-old rookie James ranking ninth in the league.

In 2008-09, 13 guys.

In 2010-11, 9 guys.

In 2012-13, 5 guys.

In 2013-14, none.

In 2015-16, one.

This year, Minnesota's Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns are the only two with a chance to reach 3,000 minutes.

The norms changed. The league changed.

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Chicago's Michael Jordan has already been passed by LeBron James when it comes to total minutes played in the regular season in their careers.

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The context of Jordan

The desire, of course, is to compare James and Michael Jordan in everything. But some adjustment for the era is required, at least in certain statistical categories. Minutes is one of them.

This is despite that fact that James has already played more minutes in 14 seasons than Jordan played in his 15 seasons. The overall minutes battle is over, and James is the victor. One of Jordan's seasons was limited to 18 games by injury and another was just a 17-game season coming off his retirement.

Jordan, however, also had those nearly two seasons away from basketball just before his age 32 season -- the season James is playing now without a break.

These are obvious points, but they are required reminders when someone like former Jordan teammate Dennis Rodman is criticizing James for sitting out games, saying it's something Jordan never did.

But let's not focus on games missed. Let's talk superstars and overall minutes.

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Some stars, like Kevin Garnett, were already clearing wearing down by the time they were the age James is now.

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Other players at age 32

This isn't a complete analysis, but it is a fairly comprehensive rundown of relevant recent NBA stars in their NBA seasons in which they turned 32. That's the season James is playing.

Where did these stars rank, in those age 32 seasons, in minutes? How did they compare to their contemporaries in playing time at the same age James is now?

Some players, like Kevin Garnett and Dwyane Wade, were injured or rested enough by age 32 that they aren't even worth discussing. Garnett never played more than 71 games after age 32. Wade has played more than 70 once in four years after age 32.

Charles Barkley never played more than 71 games after age 29. Tracy McGrady was done after his age 32 season.

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Tim Duncan is a star whose minutes were managed rather well by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

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Tim Duncan

During his age 32 season in 2008-09, San Antonio's Tim Duncan ranked 52nd in total minutes played.

Thanks, Gregg Popovich.

Dirk Nowitzki missed nine games with a knee injury during his age 32 season and ranked 58th in minutes. But if he had played his average minutes in those nine games, he still only would have ranked 21st.

Shaquille O'Neal? He was 69th in minutes at age 32 in his first year in Miami.

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Utah point guard John Stockton played all 82 games at age 32, but he was only 24th in the NBA in minutes in 1994-95.

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John Stockton

There are plenty of stars who didn't crack the top 20 in minutes in their age 32 seasons:

Reggie Miller, 36th

Ben Wallace, 35th

Chris Webber, 35th

Hakeem Olajuwon, 27th

Carmelo Anthony, 26th (this season)

John Stockton, 24th. The Utah Jazz point guard played all 82 games in 1994-95 and averaged 35 minutes per game, but he didn't crack the top 20 in minutes at age 32.

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Kobe Bryant played 82 games for the last time when he was 32. He then topped 70 games just once in his final five seasons.

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Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant played 82 games for the final time during his age 32 season in 2010-11. But he averaged a manageable 33.9 minutes per game. That's why he ranked just 23rd in total minutes that season.

Jason Kidd in his age 32 season - 22nd in minutes.

Vince Carter - 20th.

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None of these Bulls stars -- (from left) Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen or Michael Jordan (far right, alongside coach Phil Jackson) ranked in the top 10 in the league in minutes during their age 32 season.

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Jordan and the Bulls

So where did Jordan rank in minutes when he was 32?

During that 1995-96 season, his first full season back from retirement in which the Bulls went 72-10 during the regular season and finished it with the fourth title for the Jordan Bulls, he ranked 12th in total minutes.

He topped the 3,000-minute mark, but 21 players did so that year. (He would go on to rank ninth in total minutes two years later as a 34-year-old. And then he retired again.)

Rodman (left in photo), was 32 during the 1993-94 season when he played in San Antonio. He ranked 12th in minutes in his season as well.

And Scottie Pippen (center in photo) missed half his age 32 season in 1997-98 due to injury. So we'll judge him by his age 31 season - 19th in minutes.

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Allen Iverson led the league in minutes at age 32 during his first full season in Denver.

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Stars who played more than LeBron

So who played more than James at the same age?

James is sitting at ninth in the league in total minutes with three games to play, and Ty Lue has said he won't rest James and Kyrie Irving until the Eastern Conference is clinched.

It may now take at least two more games to do that, with the Cavs' lead over Boston currently at one game. So James may enter the realm of superstars at age 32 who finished in the top 10 in the league in total minutes.

Paul Pierce and Dominique Wilkins were both injured in their age 32 seasons, but were 10th and 11th in their age 31 years. But that's not quite the same.

So here's our list of recent age 32 stars who officially finished in the top 10 in total minutes played.

Karl Malone, 10th, 1995-96

Gary Payton, 5th, 2000-01

Allen Iverson, 1st, 2007-08, his first full season in Denver after his trade from Philadelphia. He only played three more seasons and never topped 57 games again.

And that's it.

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LeBron James will play more minutes this season than he has in either of the last two years during the regular season.

Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer

Too much LeBron

So here we are, the day after a 32-year-old legend played 41 minutes in his team's 28th loss of the season. He's handled it, because he handles almost everything.

But this isn't typical for any current 30-something. Let the kids in their 20s rack up the minutes, like James did when he led the league in minutes at 20 and 22.

This isn't typical for superstars of this age, not compared to the other players in their seasons. With 3,000-minute seasons all but gone, you have to live in the current reality. And James isn't trying to stay fresher than legends of the past. He's trying to make sure he has enough left in the playoffs for the stars he'll face now -- and they've virtually all been asked to do less.

Five of the eight players ahead of James in minutes will make the playoffs. But only three are stars of even possible title contenders -- Houston's James Harden (27, 3rd in minutes), Washington's John Wall (26, 4th) and Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (28, 8th).

James sat out six games, but he should have missed more. He's played too many minutes, and for not enough of a payoff. The Cavs are still fighting for seeding, and he's not rested. He may have wanted this, but this isn't what should be expected.

It's never been about James missing too many games this season. It's always been about playing too many minutes. It may not tire him. It may not slow him. It may not stop him. But rarely has a star his age been asked to do so much more compared to the rest of the younger league around him.

This was too much LeBron. The Cavs have to hope it wasn't too much for him.

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