Shocking Graphic Lays Out LeBron James's Absurd Longevity, Dominance

LeBron James has been very good for a very long time. Just how good, and for how long? This graphic lays it out plain.
LeBron James has gotten even better with age
LeBron James has gotten even better with age / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
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LeBron James has been very, very good in the NBA for a very, very long time. This is known. As James continues to terrorize defenses and wow fans over 20 years after he was drafted, The King's longevity is quickly becoming as impressive as any of his many, more tangible accomplishments. His continued refusal to bow to Father Time has become more of a talking point since the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Luka Doncic; James appears to have been revitalized by the acquisition of his newest star teammate and is running the court like he's 28 years old again.

However, the fans may not completely comprehend just how good James is in 2025 versus his physical prime 10-15 years ago. In fact, he could very well be better. Or at least that's what the numbers tell us.

On Sunday, as the Lakers took down the Los Angeles Clippers, Spectrum SportsNet showed a graphic on the broadcast comparing James's MVP season statistics with the Miami Heat in 2013 to his stats since turning 40 in December. And his numbers are nearly all better now than they were back then.

Context, of course, is still important; when James averaged 26.8 points per game for the Heat the Denver Nuggets led the league in averaging 106 points per game. This year the Memphis Grizzlies lead the NBA with a hair over 123 PPG. The pace of the game has increased greatly in the 12-year gap displayed in the above graphic, and the floor is more open than ever. Both factors give the 40-year-old LeBron significantly more opportunities to impact the game than the 29-year-old LeBron had. If anything, the takeaway might have to be how absurdly good James was in 2013 to put up those numbers in that era.

Nevertheless! It's one of the many incredibly impressive and difficult to believe graphics that have been shown demonstrating just how amazing LeBron James is.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.