LeBron 'wouldn't have guessed' he'd still be leading Lakers at 41
LeBron James has surpassed virtually all expectations people had for him when it comes to longevity.
When LeBron James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 2018, he was 33 years of age. He agreed to a four-year contract, and the expectation at the time seemed to be that by the last year or two of that contract, he would start to show some real signs of wear and tear. Fast forward nearly eight years, and he has barely shown any such signs.
While he perhaps cannot play at the same level as consistently for long stretches of games as he could back then, his ability to produce at that level when needed is still intact. James was the Lakers' third scoring option for much of this season, but ever since Luka Doncic suffered a hamstring strain about a month ago, the 41-year-old has gone back to being the team's primary scoring threat. During the latest episode of his "Mind the Game" podcast, James said he never would've guessed in 2018 that he would still be the main man on the Lakers in 2026 and lead them to an upset win over the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs.
“I definitely didn’t believe that. I mean, listen, I came to the Lakers in 2018 at 33, and there’s no way if someone had said would you be playing in 2026 in the postseason, just playing, I don’t know if I would’ve been able to answer that question,” James said. “Let alone saying but now you’re the number one option on a playoff team and you’re helping them win a series.
I wouldn’t have believed that. I knew I still had a lot left in the tank when I came to this franchise in 2018. But to say eight years later at 41, I would be leading a team into the postseason and coming out with a series win, I wouldn’t have guessed that.