The Los Angeles Lakers-Phoenix Suns series had this sense of inevitability from the very beginning. The prevailing thought was that no matter how feisty Chris Paul plays, no matter how ready for the moment Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton are, you just couldn't shake the feeling that LeBron James was going to put his imprint on the series.

After all, the man has never lost in the first round. The Phoenix Suns may have had the better seed, the healthier team, and home-court advantage, but they weren't the hero in this story, as both NBA history books and Vegas sportsbooks had it scripted.

Game 5 was supposed to be LeBron James' defining moment in the series. Just another feather in his completely stuffed cap, if you will. The fact that the Los Angeles Lakers star had the odds stacked against him with Anthony Davis on the injury report just read as the perfect narrative. James talked the talk right after AD went down in Game 4, ready to take on the burden of carrying his squad through one pivotal battle:

“For me, it’s putting our team in position to be successful. It starts with my approach,” James said. “It starts with my accountability and trickles down to everybody else.

These shoulders were built for a reason and if it takes for me to put more on top of it then so be it. Win, lose or draw. I’m ready for the challenge.” (via Matt Peralta of Lakers Nation)

And yet we were left to witness an absolute Purple and Gold demolition by 30 points, something that even the worst LeBron James hater probably wouldn't have bet on happening.

LeBron James is showing mortality vs. the Suns

NBA, LeBron James, Chris Paul

James has delivered time and again throughout his lengthy career. It has taken superhuman performances, all-time great NBA teams, or both to topple him in any playoff series. Every other rival has just been fodder waiting to get eaten up. But after 18 seasons and thousands of minutes of mileage logged on his body, LeBron James may no longer be superhuman enough to meet the expectations that his broad shoulders have carried for nearly two decades.

James' decline has been gradual. It has teetered just enough as he has aged to keep him at a level that still far exceeds how any mere mortal should be at that stage of his career. It has always been in the little things that you notice he's just not the same. In this Suns series, these little things don't seem so little anymore. It has been more glaring than it has ever been.

There was one stat that stood out from the Los Angeles Lakers' box score in Game 5. LeBron James played nearly 32 minutes, the most on the team, but somehow finished with zero free-throw attempts. After touting his own shoulders as ready to carry his club, his aggressiveness seemed sapped away from him like never before.

In a game where he was basically by himself and with his back against the wall, the most physically imposing force in the NBA for his generation no longer had the wherewithal to even get to the free-throw line.

There have been certain plays in this series that you're just not accustomed to seeing from LeBron James. There was an instance in the second quarter of Game 5, with his team desperately needing a bucket, that James went for his patented bully-ball move in the paint. Nobody's supposed to take a bump from LeBron and still feel strong enough to contest his shot, let alone emphatically stuff him like Torrey Craig was able to do here:

He's also looking downright cooked on the defensive end. James has been left in the dust by Cam Payne, the Phoenix Suns' newest folk hero, on more than a handful of occasions:

Once one of the most dominant physical specimens on both ends of the floor, LeBron James hasn't even been able to block a single shot in his last eight playoff games.

Now, you may say that the Lakers star has been hampered by that ankle injury that has been plaguing him for months. But even that is such a tell-tale sign of his new normal. LeBron James getting seriously injured has never been a thing until his years in Los Angeles.

Recounting James' missteps in this series isn't meant to disparage him or the Lakers' chances at pulling off the comeback. On the contrary, his newfound mortality makes it much more compelling for us to watch and observe. With his sheen of invincibility gone, the challenge becomes greater than ever before as Game 6 and possibly 7 looms.

LeBron James is crashing back down to earth after being on a different plane of existence from the rest of his peers, but even then he's still probably better than everyone else. We'll all just have to sit back and watch him prove it.