There is good reason to believe that Los Angeles Lakers superstar forward LeBron James is actually a cyborg. James has been playing in the best and basketball league in the world since 2003 when he was taken first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in that year's NBA draft. Entire NBA careers of other stars have come and go since then, and James is still in the NBA, playing at an elite level in his 22nd season. It's hard to fathom and explain.
Former NBA All-Star Joakim Noah, who last played in the 2019-20 season, gave a hilarious reminder of how incredible it is to see James still competing at a high level.
“To be dominant at 40 years old is pretty crazy, I mean I can barely walk to the bathroom and this guy is still dominating,” Noah said about LeBron James during a recent appearance on The Young Man And The Three podcast. “It speaks volumes on how serious he takes it and, you know, you got to give LeBron his flowers. It's unbelievable.”
Noah has witnessed firsthand many of James' best years in basketball, as his Chicago Bulls had several clashes in the Eastern Conference versus the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player's Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat. To see James continue to matter on the floor and not just as a bench ornament for a title contender is stunning for Noah.
LeBron James' longevity is hard to fathom
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Noah started his NBA career in 2007 and played his first nine years in the league with the Bulls. He then suited up for the New York Knicks, Memphis Grizzlies, and the Los Angeles Clippers before hanging up his sneakers in 2021. He finished his career with averages of 8.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists across 672 games. For comparison, LeBron James has played in 1,498 regular-season games — and counting.
Since Noah retired, James has averaged 27.9 points on 52.1 percent shooting from the field, 7.8 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 1.1 steals through 188 games at the time of this writing. In his most recent game, James had 27 points on 9-for-17 shooting from the floor, 10 assists, six rebounds, and a steal in 36 minutes of a Lakers 131-125 road win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night — and he's just about to turn 40 years old in November.
With how things are going for James, it won't be a surprise if he plays at least a couple more seasons in the NBA, and that is going to leave Noah and others further stunned at the astonishing longevity of the NBA's all-time leader in scoring.
