LeBron James has a longevity and greatness that we have never seen in the NBA before. He will be entering his 21st season in the league when the upcoming campaign begins for his Los Angeles Lakers, and his dominance continues at his advancing age.
LeBron James Could Play Until He’s 50, Says Perk
The only players in the 10K/10K/10K club:
— LeBron James (38k/10k/10k)
End of the list. pic.twitter.com/glSedjTCTW
— LeBron Muse (@BronMuse) July 10, 2023
James is just one year removed from the second-highest scoring average of his career. He put up 30.3 points per in 2021-22, and followed that up with a 28.9 point per game performance this last season. He averaged 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists as well, but it was the accomplishments of his team that were the most impressive of his feats during 2022-23.
The Lakers started off abnormally slow, beginning the year with a 2-11 record with things looking bleak. But slowly and surely, James and company fought their way back into the playoff picture in the Western Conference, and eventually qualified for the 7th seed. Los Angeles was able to pull off two upsets in a row by defeating the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors in the playoffs, but ultimately ran out of gas in the Western Conference Finals against the eventual champion Denver Nuggets.
But while the Lakers came up short, there was no denying the continued dominance of LeBron James.
James Could Take On Haslem Role
Kendrick Perkins says LeBron James could play until he’s 50 if he buys into a Udonis Haslem role pic.twitter.com/tWBwVdOFDW
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) July 12, 2023
There has been plenty of speculation this summer about what lies ahead for James and where his career path could take him. Kendrick Perkins weighed in on the situation by saying that LeBron could play until he’s 50 years old, if he’s able to embrace a specific role:
“LeBron could actually play until he’s 50. If LeBron could buy into the Udonis Haslem role, where he’s actually on the bench being a veteran leader, you don’t think no team would want him”
Haslem spent years on the end of the bench for the Miami Heat, taking up a roster spot but acting as something of a coach and mentor to the rest of the team. Perkins believes that James could have the same fate, and he’s probably right in saying that plenty of teams would be interested.
There were rumors flying at the end of the Lakers’ season about the short-term future for LeBron James. In his postgame conference following his team’s elimination, he left the door open for a possible retirement. That seems to be well in the past now, and it is believed that he will try and stick around long enough to play against (or with) his son Bronny in the NBA.