Subscribe
Follow Us
How much longer is LeBron James going to be in the NBA? After wrapping up the 2024-25 season with the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron finds himself as a 40-year-old who has achieved everything in this league through 22 years. However, he still has some time left, and James will be back for his 23rd NBA season when the 2025-26 season rolls around.
No athlete in the history of professional sports has been able to sustain success with their performance and body like James, who continues to defy Father Time and all the odds being stacked against him late in his career. This past season, the league's all-time leading scorer averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.8 rebounds per game, proving that he is still one of the best players in the world at 40.
DeMar DeRozan knows a thing or two about LeBron's longevity, as DeRozan has witnessed James single-handedly drown his teams in the playoffs year after year. Even when he moved on from the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference and thought he wouldn't have to run into LeBron anymore, the superstar went to the Lakers in the Western Conference.
Although DeRozan has been one of the most consistent stars this league has to offer, he recognizes that James' greatness expands well past his accomplishments over the last two decades. To still be able to play at the level LeBron is at and be the focal point of a championship-contending team is what has DeRozan claiming that James shouldn't be criticized whatsoever.
“I told somebody this the other day, right? Like when they was playing in a series, they was talking about ‘Bron can’t get it done’, about beating them and all this. And I remember telling group of people, I said, ‘Most these motherf*****s wouldn’t stand a chance versus a 2016 Bron,” DeRozan told Theo Pinson on the Run Your Race show. “People forget the man been doing this 22 years, man. Like something we never seen in no sport, to be able to dominate as long as he has.”
DeMar DeRozan's respect for LeBron James
Of course, DeRozan was referring to LeBron in 2016, when the Cleveland Cavaliers won their first championship over the Golden State Warriors. That year, DeRozan faced James in the Eastern Conference Finals, a series that Cleveland won in six games against Toronto.
Article Continues Below
LeBron averaged 26.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game against the Raptors despite constantly facing double teams and pressure.
Although he is now 40 years old, James continues to elevate his play and put the Lakers in a position to contend. He is the reason Los Angeles claimed the 3-seed in the West, and he will be the main reason this team is brought up in title conversations during the 2025-26 season.
“The standard that he’s been held to at a 40 years old is insane. A 40-year-old man, you feel me? He got to carry everything. Everything,” DeRozan continued. “To still do that at that level… I’m pretty sure 99% of people in the league will not be doing none of that at 40 years of age, hooping at that high of a level. So like it’s always easy to pick on greatness when you haven’t seen it to that level before.
“When we went against him, I said it before, you got to shake his hand.”
DeRozan will be turning 36 in August and just finished his 16th NBA season, so he knows a thing or two about longevity in this league. No matter what team he was with or in either conference, DeRozan has always run into LeBron in the regular season and the playoffs.
Despite James always having the upper hand over him, DeRozan still holds a tremendous amount of respect for LeBron and what he's been able to accomplish over his 22 years in the NBA.
