At 41 years old, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is the oldest player in the NBA but he also remains one of its best.
Although James started the 2025-26 season late due to an offseason injury, he’s looked more like himself in recent weeks. James has played so well that Lakers head coach JJ Redick believes he’ll make the 2026 NBA All-Star Team as a reserve.
What LeBron is doing this late into his career is unprecedented, and the Lakers are even banking on him sustaining this level of play the rest of the year.
While James looks as good as ever some nights, he admitted that he’s even unsure how he finds it in himself to be ready both physically and mentally and is looking to squeeze out whatever is left in his game, via his “Mind the Game” podcast:
“It’s very fascinating to me and it’s kind of like weird, too, at times. Like there’s times where I wake up on games days and I’m like I don’t got it, I don’t have the energy, I’m tired, I don’t know how I’m gonna be able to work up just the oomph you need to get through a 48-minute game or however long you’re on the floor. It took a lot out of me obviously getting ready for the season. Obviously it’s well-documented my injury to start the season and missing the preseason, missing training camp, missing the first 14 games of the season and then just trying to get my back and my body back accordingly. So that was tough, seeing if it was gonna be able to respond. I don’t know, man. To be playing at the level I’m playing at, just turned 41 two weeks plus ago and going out there and playing and feeling good. I played in two back-to-backs this past week, played five in seven nights and I didn’t know if I was gonna be able to get through them and I came out of five of seven, six in nine feeling good. I don’t know, man, I don’t even know how I’m doing it. So I’m just trying to squeeze as much juice out of the lemon, out of the orange, out of whatever that’s left as much as I can and just continue to play the game that I love.”
At his age, it’s normal for the energy to come and go but James does an incredible job to staying as ready as possible. The Lakers have gone through a tough stretch of games recently, but LeBron has managed to suit up and be there for his team in all of them.
LeBron James hopes Lakers are building momentum
The Lakers completed an impressive comeback win against the Dallas Mavericks before following it up with a solid win against the Chicago Bulls. Los Angeles hasn’t always been at its best, but James is hoping that the team is finally starting to build momentum.
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