When LeBron James made his NBA debut on October 29, 2003, Victor Wembanyama was still 67 days away from being born.
They are 20 years apart, so in this case it can be said without exaggeration: “I could be his father. The Spurs’ French prodigy is the precocious icon of a new era, but the Lakers‘ small forward is still alive and well and there is no end in sight.
Today he turns 39 and after winning a thousand battles on the court, he is still determined to win another, much more complicated fight against the passage of time.
LeBron is in his 21st NBA season, the same as Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, Kevin Willis and Robert Parish. Only Vince Carter, with 22, played more years. None of them came close to King James’ records with so much experience in the league. Nor was there any player with his performance at 39.
Only Karl Malone and Michael Jordan, on the Wizards after his second comeback, went over 20 points on average, LeBron is at 25.1. In terms of longevity, there is no comparison and neither in regularity.
In all his NBA seasons he has averaged over 25 points, except in his rookie year, when he averaged only 20.9. Teams change, players change, coaches change, dynamics change, rules change, the competition format changes… the only thing that remains unchanged is LeBron and his impact.
He is the only player in the history of the NBA who has surpassed 50 points at less than 21 years old and at more than 37 years old. Recently, at the age of 39, he scored 40 points without missing a three-pointer against the Thunder. No one had ever done it at such an advanced age.
Motivated by being unique, he was also the MVP of the inaugural In-Season Tournament won by the Lakers. “Knowing that I can still go out there and make winning plays, affect the game in multiple ways and close out a game in the fourth quarter when my team needed it always makes me feel good,” he says.
At the beginning of the season, before a Lakers practice, LeBron was reminded that he was the oldest player in the current NBA. He threw his hands to his face, gave a scream and ran away. During that session, he was seen making a lefty dunk. “He always has energy. He’s the oldest player in the NBA, but he acts every day like he’s 20 years old,” his teammate Austin Reaves marvels.
There are hardly any signs of decline in LeBron’s game. He has long since turned his body into a temple. He invests a million dollars a year in taking care of his work tool: physios, physical trainers, nutritionists, and recovery machines.
The Lakers are also regulating him: with 34.0 minutes per game, he has the second lowest average of his NBA career. The Lakers know that, despite his age and the presence on the roster of a player with MVP potential like Anthony Davis, the team’s aspirations depend on what James can do.
The Lakers forward became the all-time leading scorer in NBA history last season. He surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s 38,387 points, one of those marks once thought unattainable. He now has 39,380 points and his record seems impossible to beat. Kevin Durant, the first active pursuer, has 27,676. First we will have to see how much longer LeBron plays. “I’m trying to push the envelope and see how far I can take this. I don’t know. It’s me against Father Time,” he says.
No one would be surprised to see him play well into his forties. “I wouldn’t say no. It’s important to understand what motivates him. As long as he’s still excited to play and he’s healthy, it’s possible. Because of his love of basketball, he can play as long as he wants to,” says his agent, Rich Paul. At the moment, he has an option to continue one more season with the Lakers for $51 million.
But money is not his motivation. He is motivated by rings and the oft-expressed desire to play alongside his 19-year-old son Bronny, who is back on the court after overcoming a heart condition. It would be another achievement, another line in the history books, which already have several pages dedicated to the eternal LeBron.
