After 20 seasons in the NBA, Los Angeles Lakers superstar forward LeBron James flirted with the idea of retirement heading into the offseason, but even though most players are long since retired at this point in their career, no one took him seriously as everyone knew he’d be back for a 21st season.
James recently let it be known that he doesn’t intend to retire, which is great news for the Lakers and basketball fans that have been a fan of his over the last two decades.
Although James is still playing at an elite level in the NBA, he has shown signs of slowing down over the last couple of years, which is natural when you’re nearing 40 years old.
In December, James will turn 39 and will likely still be competing for a championship while wearing the Purple and Gold, which amazes former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, who raved about the future Hall of Famer’s longevity on “Gil’s Arena,” via ClutchPoints.
"The fact that [LeBron] is 39, doing what he's doing, makes 30 seem like you're a rookie… When players are looking like they're slowing down at 31/32, I don't know how we'd accept that anymore."
—Gilbert Arenas
Thoughts? 🤔
(via @GilsArenaShow)pic.twitter.com/RAtpdkk1g0
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 8, 2023
Arenas argues that James has changed the way we see age in the NBA, as his longevity could essentially change the game and how long superstars play in the league today.
However, James being compared to others is a bit difficult to do because we really haven’t seen this level of a superstar in the league in terms of longevity, along with the level of play.
The closest to James might be who he just passed on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was able to remain productive into his 40s, with the Lakers legend retiring at 42.
It’ll be interesting to see how far James can go while still being productive on the NBA level and if it leaves an impact on other superstars to have longer careers.
