
With the All-Star break underway, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James gets much-needed rest as the 41-year-old has been playing in a lot of games lately. However, he still needs to participate in his 22nd consecutive All-Star game, which is a massive accomplishment as he began the season injured and then had to knock the rust off to continue playing at this level.
Given James’ age, he presumably would much rather spend time with family and recovering during this week off.
Now in his 23rd season, every day matters to preserve himself for a grueling regular season and now he needs to make sure he is ready for a potential postseason run. A fellow competitor in Denver Nuggets three-time MVP Nikola Jokic was asked about James and his longevity during All-Star Weekend and had nothing but praise for the Lakers star.
“I mean, just you can see how many players cannot stay healthy and cannot be in the league for such a long time. I think being in this league for so long and I’m going to say producing the numbers, he’s still one of the best players in the league, even in this stage of his career,” Jokic said of James.
“He’s still making a change on the floor when he gets in and making advantage. I think it’s impressive to see that someone is doing that for 22 years. We have some players who are, like, 19, 20 and still they’re in the league. It’s impressive. Definitely we all should admire that, how good. I think maybe we don’t see that right now, but after when he stops playing, I think we’re going to admire it even more.”
There will never be another player of James’ caliber as he has set an extremely high standard for what it means to be an all-time great. As the next generation of stars begin to cement themselves, like Jokic, they have a living example of what it takes to be a legend.
No answer has been provided to when the Lakers star will call it a career, but he has been the closest player in all of sports to defeating Father Time. One could argue he has, and the Nuggets star appears to share that sentiment.
As the regular season winds down, anticipation is mounting on whether LeBron James will return for a 24th season in L.A. or elsewhere. With questions piling, James revealed how much longer he thinks he can play, as it pertains to keeping his body in top shape.
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