On ESPN First Take earlier this week, Max Kellerman raised a very interesting concern about LeBron James' health moving forward, questioning whether or not it can be trusted. He then compared James' current health situation to Kobe Bryant's in 2013, when Bryant tried to put the Los Angeles Lakers on his back and ended up tearing his Achilles in the waning days of the regular season.

Could James be following a similarly frightening path?

Well, let's start with the facts: the superstar missed over a month with a groin injury and finally returned at the end of January. Since his return, James is logging 37.3 minutes per game, which is over two minutes above his season average of 35.1. In addition, he is reportedly playing at around 280 pounds because the time off messed up his training.

LeBron James

That's a significant problem, seeing as how LeBron generally plays at around 250, so he is carrying an extra 30 pounds of weight while playing heavy minutes after coming back from a groin injury.

If that doesn't sound like an oncoming train, I don't know what does.

Kellerman's Bryant comparison is not too far off, either. Remember: that season, the Lakers were a huge disappointment, as Steve Nash spent most of the year injured and Dwight Howard spent all of it sulking. As a result, Bryant had to burden most of the load and had to go full Mamba Mode over the last month of the season in order to get Los Angeles into the postseason.

The good news was that Bryant's efforts did get the Lakers into the playoffs. The bad news was that he couldn't even play in the playoffs because of the Achilles injury.

Not saying that James is going to tear his Achilles, but you have to think that he has a high risk of re-injuring his groin, and even Lakers' brass itself is rumored to be concerned about LeBron's health.

This is the first time James has ever dealt with anything like this throughout his 16-year NBA career. Other than a back issue that turned out to be nothing early in the 2015-16 campaign, LeBron has never really had any truly worrisome injuries.

LeBron James, Lakers, Pelicans
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He has essentially been a robot during his NBA tenure, merely shrugging off incredibly heavy minutes and a ridiculous workload. But now, at 34 years old, you have to wonder if all of that mileage is finally starting to take its toll.

It's not that James has just played a lot of regular-season minutes. He has also played in eight straight NBA Finals and nine overall. He has averaged 42 minutes per game over the course of his playoff career. He has played in three Olympics.

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How the wheels have not come off by now is a medical miracle in and of itself, but, like the other seven billion people on this planet, LeBron is a human being and not some genetically altered villain, so he is vulnerable to injury.

The thing with James is that because he is not used to being hurt, he is also not accustomed to dealing with injuries. So, for that reason, he may not know how to take his foot off the gas for stretches and may not understand that he may need to have his minutes cut.

But, on the other side of the coin, if James does coast a bit and he does play less minutes, the Lakers might not make the playoffs.

It's a double-edged sword, and it's one that could possibly mark the beginning of the end for LeBron.

LeBron James

Obviously, we don't want to jump the gun yet. After all, James has looked pretty good since returning, and it's entirely possible that he plays out the rest of the year without any issues and is perfectly fine moving forward.

However, logic (and the human body) dictates that James will likely experience some more health issues in the future, just like every aging professional athlete in any sport. And if that happens, the future for the Lakers will be in grave doubt.

The whole point of Los Angeles landing LeBron this summer was not the box office draw; it was to win a championship or championships. That was already going to be very difficult as it was, but throw James' health problems into the mix, and it becomes near impossible.

Keep in mind that free agents are watching LeBron very, very closely. They didn't seem too keen on joining him last summer when he was healthy, so why would they do it now when it appears that his health has been compromised?

None of us know what the future holds, but Los Angeles is holding its breath.