D’Angelo Russell thinks LeBron James could play 25 years
LeBron James, one of the NBA’s greatest players and its all-time leading scorer, became the first player in league history to score 40,000 career points Saturday evening against the reigning champion Denver Nuggets!
He may not be as athletic as he once was, though the 39-year-old remains one of the best in the sport. He’s averaging 25.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 1.3 steals on 52.7 percent shooting and a career-high 40.8 percent from 3-point range.
Los Angeles Lakers teammate D’Angelo Russell commented last week that James, who’s currently in year 21, could be capable of playing for 25 seasons.
“You try to compare how high he jumps when he first got to the league til now, it’s a little drop-off, but he’s still jumping over dudes,” Russell said. “I’m not surprised. He’s still capable, he’s still got it and he’s still got some years under his belt. You’re seeing Year 21. Might be seeing Year 25.”
James’s career arc has been one to behold; it took him the same amount of games to go from 30,000 to 40,000 points as it did to earn his first 10,000 career points, showcasing the longevity and consistency he’s experienced in his legendary career.
Of course, as a wise man once said, “Father time is undefeated.” But it does not appear to be slowing down James any time soon, even though he’s missed time each of his previous three seasons due to lower body injuries.
We know James wants to play with his son, Bronny, at some point, though we don’t know when that will be nor who that will be with. There’s speculation that James could re-up with the Los Angeles Lakers–who own his bird rights–on a brand new multi-year deal if he opts out of his $51.4 million player option this offseason.
Who knows how long James, who will be in his age-43 season in year 25, will want to play. Regardless, he’s one of the greatest athletes ever, so it’s not impossible to imagine him playing at least 2-3 more seasons at a reasonably high level.
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