LeBron James turned 40 years old on Monday, and the Los Angeles Lakers’ superstar joined a small group of players who have played in the NBA across four decades. How much longer will he be in the top basketball league in the world?
PUBLICIDAD
That question is answered in the locker rooms after each game and the "king LeBron" still hasn't given an answer, but at this point he doesn't have many more milestones to achieve: he was a champion with the Heat, Cavaliers, and Lakers; he is the all-time leading scorer in NBA history; he was also an Olympic champion with Team USA, and a few weeks ago he fulfilled the dream of playing alongside his son Bronny.
PUBLICIDAD
Therefore, at any moment the long-awaited -and feared- announcement could arrive.
This is a look at some statistical milestones for players in their 40s in NBA history:
Write down 40 at 40
Only one player has had a 40-point game after turning 40 years old in NBA history. That milestone belongs to Michael Jordan.
On February 21, 2003, four days after turning 40, Jordan scored 43 points for the Washington Wizards in their 89-86 victory over the New Jersey Nets.
There have only been seven games of 30 points or more by players after turning 40: Jordan has four of them, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, and Dirk Nowitzki each have one.
Total points
James is going to move up on this list.
Excluding Tim Duncan and Danny Schayes, who played in the playoffs at 40 but never a regular-season game, only 29 players have scored in the NBA after their 40th birthday.
And eight of those players, Juwan Howard, Charles Jones, Rick Mahorn, Charles Oakley, Bob Cousy, Jamal Crawford, Nat Hickey, and Joe Johnson, scored no more than 21 points in total after turning 40. James could surpass them all in just one game.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has the most points after turning 40: 1,941.
LeBron won't be the oldest
James is the oldest player in the NBA right now, but it is probably safe to say that he will not set the record as the oldest in NBA history. He would have to play six more years to do so.
The oldest man to play in an NBA game was Nat Hickey, who participated in two games with the Providence Steamrollers on January 27 and 28, 1948, just two days before turning 46.
40 in the finals
There has been only one player in the last two decades to play in an NBA Finals game in their 40s. Udonis Haslem from Miami, who was two days away from turning 43 when he played in the championship series against Denver in 2023.
Before him, the most recent forty-year-old in the finals was Karl Malone in 2004.
Who's next?
After James, the next NBA player to turn 40 will be Chris Paul of the San Antonio Spurs, who reaches the milestone on May 6th. He would likely have to be part of a second-round playoff run to play at 40 this season.
Taj Gibson from the Charlotte Hornets turns 40 on June 24, so he would have to return next season to play at that age.