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There’s only one surefire way to make LeBron James look his age on the basketball court: casually let him know he once competed against your father in the game. Houston Rockets rookie Jabari Smith Jr A very interesting example The approach — not just because of casual rumors that his father, Jabari Sr., was on the opposing team during LeBron’s NBA debut in 2003 — but Smith revealed the information to James as the 38-year-old was on his way to a 48-point night, en route to the league’s all-time scoring record by Houston.

In the near future — and possibly as soon as this weekend — James will pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leading scorer in NBA history. And he does it in the most inexplicable way possible, entering the record books with a high-scoring season, the twilight of his legendary career at Technicolor.

So as James turns to what many consider to be an unbreakable record, let’s just say this is no ordinary thing. A 38-year-old shouldn’t be averaging 30 points per game, fighting for the game. Single season He managed to score a trophy in the 20th round of the league. Nobody does that. Even when stars stick around into their 30s, they tend to be clones of pre-existing players with the same basic roster but with no obvious detail. Jason Kidd went from full-court dynamo to shutdown coordinator. Tim Duncan has moved from franchise-changing center to the fifth option in the Spurs’ lineup. LeBron’s miracle isn’t that he lasted long enough to catch up with the rim. When he does, he’ll still be LeBron—completely in command and scoring at will.

His story stands as an incomprehensible longevity, a run of a thousand games and tens of thousands of minutes, including one of the most beautiful and epic falls the sport has ever seen. LeBron is a very different player than he was at 28 years old, and a much bigger player than he was at 18 years old. But here he is, old and wise and slow, still getting buckets on the next branch of the family tree.

“Kenyon Martin Jr. is out on the court tonight as well. I played with his dad,” James told reporters after a game against Smith and the Rockets in January. “I played Gary Trent Sr., and now obviously his son, in Toronto. Gary Payton and his son. And that’s not all. There’s Rick and Jalen Brunson, Glenn Rice Jr. and Sr., Glenn Robinson Jr. and III — the list goes on. In 2024, James could share the court or team with his own son. Forget the idea of ​​a born athlete; It’s LeBron. Many generationsHe provided a pedigree for the sport as he reigned supreme for a long time.

There’s no doubt that James has come to play a perimeter-oriented game, as aging veterans often do. However, the reason his prime can be extended indefinitely is because he can still get to the basket – pushing past and through opponents in an athletically impossible way. It hits the post. He attacks from a bread-and-butter pick-and-roll. He cuts back the back door and takes advantage of every opportunity in transition. LeBron averaged more shots at the rim this season than any player 35 or older — more than Shaquille O’Neal, Karl Malone and Michael Jordan — but his only real competition is himself.

Easy living on the rim

Season Player group Age Rim FGA Rim FG%
Season Player group Age Rim FGA Rim FG%
2022-23 LeBron James LL 38 8.7 75.3
2021-22 LeBron James LL 37 8.6 75.3
2019-20 LeBron James LL 35 8.3 68.7
1996-97 Dominic Wilkins SAS 37 7.0 51.7
2008-09 Shaquille O’Neal PHX 37 6.7 73.3
2020-21 LeBron James LL 36 6.4 75.6

*Data is from the 1996-97 season.

Data via NBA.com

Perhaps this should come as no surprise. LeBron has always made the most difficult parts of his game look easy, so why is the same when it comes to dealing with his athletic mortality? Any player in LeBron’s age bracket is fading fast—battling injuries, saved by minutes restrictions, or filling small, supporting roles. And then there’s James, the 20-year-old dribbling directly between players to give a broken Laker a much-needed lifeline.

At a young age, James jumped into the air and returned to the ground on his own schedule. There’s a wait, and then there’s that. This– Enough pickup to make plays, accurate mistakes and occasionally limbo under the defender’s arms in the air and still follow up for a dunk. LeBron still has springs, but most of his game is flying forward, not up.

James may not bounce back the way he’s used to, but a player this tough and this smart is almost impossible to slow down. Defenders will watch LeBron at every turn. Those who try to stay at the front immediately know that it is not enough to be close to him when he drives – not when he can easily leave the competition and turn everything he can into dust. Those who are not in perfect position are irrelevant. People who try to take charge often end up screwing up instead. James has distinguished himself over the years with his incredible ability to see the entire board as a player, down to every piece and every move. In appreciating that kind of vision, it’s easy to forget that he generally executes the plan by beating the defender in front of him. He still does.

That kind of advantage will age well, especially when wielded by a basketball genius. Part of the reason LeBron’s prime has lasted so long, of course, is that it began earlier than most players’ entire careers. His understanding of the game and how to use the game took his various gifts in no time, giving him a head start to make himself a reality. At this stage in his career, that same brilliance allows him to make up for lost stride. All in all, he spent 20 years at the absolute peak of his career.

The NBA has seen superstars and superstar wings extend their careers through reinvention. James is different. He never had to think about how to control the game or the action. When he had to give up the spirit of a former player, he did not get a moment of reckoning. While much has changed in LeBron’s two decades in the league, the charm of his career has come from having enough new tools to run the game in the same basic ways.

In the world of sports, there is a belief that elite athletes—due to the dedication of proper nutrition, improvements in training methods, and major medical advances—are playing better than ever. LeBron is often cited as evidence of a new wave of athleticism because of all the ways he contributes to his athletic performance. This It doesn’t look like 38 normally

The reality is that NBA players don’t develop deep into their careers. It’s LeBron.

Over the past four seasons — since James turned 35 — the average NBA player has been lower than at any other time in NBA history. Any progress made in extending player careers has been overshadowed by the growing demand for the game. In the 90s, basketball was a battlefield, from hand-to-body shots to hard and dangerous fouls. Basketball in the 2020s is a competitive battle—not with an enforcer eager to send you to the floor, but with relentless pace and space. There is no quarter of veterans hiding in the game who survive through cunning and old man strength. If you can’t cover ground, you’re as good as lost. If you don’t run the breaks, the league will leave you behind.

It didn’t matter to Braun, who had an athletic feat in his league debut and still has one today – a rare game against Jabari Smith Jr. “It’s a special thing that I’ve been able to stand the test of time as far as playing against fathers and sons,” James said. “Similar to what. [Tom] Brady is working. You look at Asante Samuel, and now the boy is playing. Patrick Suren, played with the father, and is now playing with the son. I guess I’m just trying to keep up with the Bradys – not the Joneses.

And now, after Brady announced his (second) retirement from the NFL this week, LeBron stands alone. There’s a reason James needed to look outside of basketball for a close comparison. All have come and gone since his draft. While LeBron is locked in the cage, Dwyane Wade is shaping the future of the Jazz. Luke Walton is providing scouting reports. You know what Kendrick Perkins is up to. Boris Dayau may still be floating somewhere in the Mediterranean.

The longer James continues to play at this level, the harder it will be to argue that any of today’s stars can truly be considered his peers. Kevin Durant is the closest active player behind LeBron in career scoring, with 26,684 career points to his name. He still follows LeBron More than 10,000 points. What LeBron has done in taking such a careful approach to his body and his game creates the illusion that a career like his is attainable—he’s a trend-setter, a visionary for the future of the sport. But LeBron is not a bell or a role model. It is a historical disgrace.

Soon James will have the record to prove it – and the most points scored by any player in NBA history, which is a unique feat. Unofficially, he probably has more drives to the basket. Further reading. The cleanest in-game process to play the game. This time, LeBron has seen it all: eras come and go, rivals rise and fall, fathers give to sons.

“You feel old, don’t you?” Smith joked back and forth with James after reminiscing about the future Hall of Famer from 20 years ago.

LeBron said as much as he confessed after his exchange with Smith, and that sentiment is certainly inevitable now — as each night unfolds in the shadow of history. Young men do not chase after such a record. But demolition is the difference between aging and being timeless.



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