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Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James recently proved to any potential doubters that he still has a lot left in the tank at the age of 39. On a Team USA squad filled with Future Hall of Famers, it was James who won the MVP of the Olympics tournament, which perhaps made things even more frustrating for Lakers fans who are wondering why their team can't seem to get over the hump stateside.
James will turn 40 just two months into the upcoming 2023-24 NBA season, which is slated to begin in October, and recently, former Washington Wizards All-Star Gilbert Arenas had a hilarious take on just how quickly the Kid from Akron is aging, via the Gils Arenas Show podcast.
“[LeBron James] is one party night away from being grandpa. Like, he's one road trip in Miami, he goes to sleep too early, ‘Hey, Pops, you’ve got a grandson,'” said Arenas. “I'm just serious. That's his look right now. He don't look young no more.”
James of course is slated to play alongside his son Bronny James this upcoming season, although at this point, it's unclear just how much Bronny will have the opportunity to see court time given his underwhelming performance in the NBA summer league recently.
Can the Lakers salvage LeBron's final years?
At this point, Rob Pelinka and the rest of the Lakers brass haven't given fans any reason to believe so.
Of course, James himself is far from blameless as far as the current ineptitude of the organization. The biggest setback the franchise endured over the last few years was the disastrous trade for Russell Westbrook in the 2021 offseason, a move that backfired severely and that's aftershocks are still being felt. James was a large culprit for the team's decision to make that move, which has severely hamstrung their current roster flexibility.
Still, it had to be frustrating a year ago for Lakers fans to watch their team, which had made an improbable run to the Western Conference Finals a year prior, get stomped in the first round of the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets, and then proceed to make zero noteworthy roster decision in the offseason.
As things currently stand, Los Angeles figures to once again be in the play-in discussion out west, and that's assuming they enjoy the same unbelievable run of health that they did in 2023-24, which is far from a guarantee.
In any case, training camp is slated to begin in just over a month.
