Basketball great LeBron James continues to defy age and expectation.
The 40-year-old scored 42 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists to become the oldest player to top 40 points since Michael Jordan in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-112 win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday (6 February) night.
“What do I think? That I’m old,” James said to the media after. “That’s what I think. I need a glass of wine and some sleep; that’s the first thing I think about.”
Jordan was 40 years and four days old when he scored 43 points for the Washington Wizards in 2003. James, meanwhile, turned 40 on 30 December last year, handing him 34 days on the hoops legend.
The three-time Olymoic champion’s scoring feat also means he now covets another unique piece of NBA history: he is now the youngest (19 years and 88 days) and the oldest (40 years and 38 days) player in NBA history to score 40+ points.
Many were in awe of James’ dominant night, including new blockbuster trade signing Luka Doncic, who sat on the bench for the second straight game after joining the team from Dallas.
Given that Slovenian is also one of the league’s most prolific scorers, there is a growing sense that his partnership with James might lead to more NBA milestones tumbling as the LA Lakers star continues to find ways to put his remarkable longevity to the test.
One such target that is sure to fall is the category of most NBA regular-season games played. James (1538) is on the precipice of overtaking Vince Carter (1541) and is not too far from leapfrogging Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who finished his career having played 1560 games.
James also needs just 40 points to break into the top 10 all-time scorers for the Lakers.
