Lakers Rumors: Dennis Schröder Reveals Just How Long LeBron James Wants To Stay In NBA
Los Angeles Lakers All-Star power forward LeBron James is no spring chicken.
In point of fact, he is less than two weeks away from his 38th birthday, while in the midst of his 20th NBA season. Should he remain mostly healthy, he will be named to his record-tying 19th career All-Star game, an achievement in longevity he'll share with the man who holds many such league records, Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
This year, he is showing signs of decline, especially in the post, but his numbers remain solid: 26.5 points on .475/.315/.705 shooting splits, plus 8.6 rebounds and 6.5 assists.
Speaking during a recent interview in his native German, starting L.A. guard Dennis Schröder revealed that his teammate James had apparently communicated to the vet how long he hoped to continue lacing up his sneakers.
"I asked him how much longer he wants to play, and he said he wants to play for five to seven more years. He's turning 38 now, he says 45," Schröder said.
Should James actually follow the TB12 Method approach, he would certainly set all kinds of records on all kinds of statistical leaderboards, on which he ranks pretty highly already.
The oldest player to ever suit up was Nat Hickey, a coach and former player who pulled a Michael Jordan and re-activated himself to help his Providence Steamrollers in 1948. He was just two days shy of his 46th birthday when, after just two games, he retired. Could James play till 46? In terms of actual games played, James is currently ranked 14th. Should he wind up playing and remaining mostly healthy through his age-45 season, he could vault all the way to the top of the heap.
Obviously the big record that will be tumbling this year is Abdul-Jabbar's all-time regular season scoring record of 38,387 points. James actually has the all-time scoring record when one combines regular season and playoff points, but for whatever reason the big focus is the less impressive regular season-only award.
James just recently supplanted another Laker, Magic Johnson, to move into sixth place in all-time assists. Should he stay reasonably healthy this season (even missing 15 or so more games), he will surpass a brief Laker, Steve Nash, to reach fourth place in all-time assists.
James is ranked 10th in all-time three-pointers made, and he's rarely been an above-average three-point shooter!
He ranks just two steals away from lapping Hakeem Olajuwon to claim sole possession of 10th place all-time in that category.
The man is a menace to almost all metrics of sustained greatness. How long will he do it in the purple and gold? We'll find out.
