LeBron James turns 40 years old next month, old enough to be the father of some players he now faces on NBA courts on a nightly basis — and, of course, he literally is the father of one of his new Los Angeles Lakers teammates, eldest son Bronny James. Yet LeBron is still playing like a man 15 years younger, recording triple-doubles in each of the Lakers’ last three games including Thursday’s 128-123 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
After that win, FOX Sports NBA reporter Melissa Rohlin asked the basketball icon how much longer he could be playing in the NBA if he was willing to — and LeBron was candid in his response.
“Obviously, it’s the mind — wherever the mind is is where the rest of my body’s gonna go, wherever the case may be,” James said. “I don’t know. I’m not going to play that much longer, to be completely honest. I don’t know how many years that is, if it’s one year or two years, whatever the case may be.
“I’m not playing until the wheels fall off. I’m not going to be that guy.”
The wheels, for now, are still very much on. James has always been in a league of his own, but he continues to plunge into uncharted territory in his 22nd NBA season, which ties him with Hall of Famer Vince Carter for most all-time.
James also just became the oldest player in NBA history to record three straight triple-doubles, adding another entry into the record books for the NBA All-Time scoring leader. The longevity of “The King” combined with his continued excellence is now his chief separator from Michael Jordan in the never-ending “G.O.A.T” debate, and Colin Cowherd used two famous TV shows to illustrate that point on Thursday’s edition of “The Herd”:
“Michael Jordan was more like ‘Seinfeld,’” Cowherd argued. “Nine great years, highly impactful, still discussed today. LeBron has become law and order. We’re on year 35, I watched an episode two days ago, it still crushes. I know Michael played 15 seasons, and many of them were great, but he was a shell of himself at the end. LeBron in year 22 and on any possession, [he’s the] best player on the floor in any game.
“[Anthony Davis] got into foul trouble [against the Grizzlies]. They’re like, ‘LeBron take it over.’ Best player on the floor.”
Cowherd said that James still remains among the NBA’s elite, though he may no longer be the league’s very best player thanks to the emergence of stars like Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Edwards.
“But LeBron’s IQ, his leadership, his ability to pick up things during the course of a game. … LeBron has easily got the best résumé in the history of basketball,” Cowherd said.
As for the one thing on Jordan’s résumé that James does not have — six NBA titles (compared to four) and an undefeated record in the NBA Finals (compared to 4-6) — Cowherd says context is key.
Has LeBron James matched Michael Jordan’s greatness in year 22 of his career? | The Herd
“If you want to do titles, [Bill] Russell had 11,” Cowherd said. “There’s Robert Horry, he’s got more. There’s got to be layers in contextualization. I’ve argued forever, if the Chicago Bulls were in the Western Conference, like the Chicago Blackhawks are in [the NHL] — it’s right on the line —he would have lost multiple NBA Finals because he couldn’t beat [Larry] bird and the Celtics or Isiah [Thomas] and the Pistons for years, [and] he never got the Finals.
“Stop punishing LeBron for being more successful. He got to 10 finals. MJ to six. Magic [Johnson] got to nine. MJ to six. Stop punishing people for being more successful. Don’t be so ring obsessed. Contextualize stuff. What LeBron is doing doesn’t make sense. … LeBron’s career post [age] 34 is better than not only some All-Stars, but 95% of the players that have ever played.”
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