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LeBron James Gets Brutally Honest About the Difficulties of Playing at Age 40
LeBron James has been sidelined more often than not to start his record 23rd NBA season. The Lakers superstar missed the first month of the season as he dealt with sciatica on his right side.
He made his season debut Nov. 18 against the Jazz, playing in four consecutive games before he was ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Pelicans due to left foot management. James returned to the floor the next night in the Lakers’ 125–108 loss to the Suns Monday. After the game, he was asked about the surprise absence from Sunday’s contest, where he dropped a brutally honest line about the pitfalls of playing at 40 years old.
“It’s called old. You get it, you understand,” James said when asked about the foot injury via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “You just wake up with s--- that you didn’t have the night before.”
“It’s called old. … You just wake up with s— that you didn’t have the night before.” — LeBron James on his left foot injury management designation that kept him out of Sunday’s game. pic.twitter.com/YC0hGeuppd
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 2, 2025
Age catches up with us all, even the greatest athletes.
James has missed 15 games thus far over the season. He can only miss two contests over the rest of the year to maintain eligibility for NBA postseason awards with the league’s 65-game threshold. He has received All-NBA honors in 21 straight seasons, each year of his illustrious career besides his first season when he was named Rookie of the Year.
Through five games this season, he’s averaging 15.2 points, 7.2 assists and four rebounds per game. He turns 41 on Dec. 30. Despite James’s availability, the Lakers are off to a 15-5 start behind masterful play from Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. L.A. is currently second in the Western Conference, only behind the 20–1 Thunder.
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Blake Silverman is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.