Will LeBron James play into his 40s?

[RealGM Polls]

1. Yes
2. No

[ALPHAandOMEGA]

Lebron's already crying about playing basketball. My money has him retiring before 40 and taking his talents to HBO or showtime to make more **** TV.

[Beethoven]

Yes.
At his trajectory, Lebron will continue to play to 39 years old at a high level still. 40s he will start tapering off then he will retire when he's no longer in the top 10 conversation perhaps.

[bamheat]

Lebron's already crying about playing basketball. My money has him retiring before 40 and taking his talents to HBO or showtime to make more **** TV.

And yet his is still the champ. That's GOAT.

[Badbobby]

Even played a video game where you’re on the hottest streak of your life and you know that if you just keep it up you might actually slap up a high score so good that no one will ever top it?

Imagine if you were getting paid hundreds of mil as well?

Of course he will play on, at least until he knocks KAJ off the top spot.

[Rashidi]

Lebron's already crying about playing basketball. My money has him retiring before 40 and taking his talents to HBO or showtime to make more **** TV.

To be clear, players of his stature make considerably more money OFF the court that they do on it. It's not about the money, it's about building a brand & legacy.

When MJ came out of retirement w/ Washington, he donated his entire salary (vet minimum) to charity. He didn't need to be paid anything for him to make millions.

[12footrim]

I don't think he's going anywhere. He's clearly a top 5 player by most any standard and 4 years from now I don't see much of a drop off baring injuries. His size and skill and new found shooting will still be there and unlike Jordan he can hide at PF on defense where he will still likely be a plus athlete even at 40.

Also look around, the NBA has hit a period where most of the stars are older similar to the late 90's. Of the current top 10 or 15 players there are many that are also on the decline or soon will be heading down the mountain. Ages Kawahi 29.6, Harden 31.5, Curry 32.9 Durrant 32.4, Lillard 30.6, George 30.8, Butler 31.4 etc.

All these guys are also going to be declining and the younger guys like Giannis I don't think ages well, he might also be on the decline already and Embid is an injury risk. Other than Doncic I don't see all these young guys ready to take the throne from any of these older ones really.

Tatum, Ingram, Brown, Morant etc don't seem to be that caliber of player. I really think many of these 30 somethings might still be in the top 25 in 4 years and Lebron probably is still better than them and a top 10 player at 40 because will all these older guys declining similarly. I could easily see that simply because I don't see the young wave of players coming to take the top 10 away from them.

[NBA FAN 4 life]

I don't think he's going anywhere. He's clearly a top 5 player by most any standard and 4 years from now I don't see much of a drop off baring injuries. His size and skill and new found shooting will still be there and unlike Jordan he can hide at PF on defense where he will still likely be a plus athlete even at 40.

Also look around, the NBA has hit a period where most of the stars are older similar to the late 90's. Of the current top 10 or 15 players there are many that are also on the decline or soon will be heading down the mountain. Ages Kawahi 29.6, Harden 31.5, Curry 32.9 Durrant 32.4, Lillard 30.6, George 30.8, Butler 31.4 etc.

All these guys are also going to be declining and the younger guys like Giannis I don't think ages well, he might also be on the decline already and Embid is an injury risk. Other than Doncic I don't see all these young guys ready to take the throne from any of these older ones really.

Tatum, Ingram, Brown, Morant etc don't seem to be that caliber of player. I really think many of these 30 somethings might still be in the top 25 in 4 years and Lebron probably is still better than them and a top 10 player at 40 because will all these older guys declining similarly. I could easily see that simply because I don't see the young wave of players coming to take the top 10 away from them.

Why not?
Most players reach super star level at 22 or older, like harden, kobe,... Steph, kawhi and lillard had their first truly great season at age 25. Lebron, Durant and doncic are more of an exception starting to peak already at 20.
And now Tatum is having a nice season averaging over 25 ppg while beeing 22.
At age 21 Cp3 averaged 17 ppg and 9 ass compared to Morant right now who so far averages nearly 19 ppg and 8 ass for the season.

[12footrim]

Why not?
Most players reach super star level at 22 or older, like harden, kobe,... Steph, kawhi and lillard had their first truly great season at age 25. Lebron, Durant and doncic are more of an exception starting to peak already at 20.
And now Tatum is having a nice season averaging over 25 ppg while beeing 22.
At age 21 Cp3 averaged 17 ppg and 9 ass compared to Morant right now who so far averages nearly 19 ppg and 8 ass for the season.

You completely ignore this important context thing called pace in comparing Paul with Morant. Look up per 100 possessions, which is apples to apples per possession. Paul has better numbers across the board including doubling his steal numbers. 22 PER vs 18 PER.

[yava]

I don't think he's going anywhere. He's clearly a top 5 player by most any standard and 4 years from now I don't see much of a drop off baring injuries. His size and skill and new found shooting will still be there and unlike Jordan he can hide at PF on defense where he will still likely be a plus athlete even at 40.

Also look around, the NBA has hit a period where most of the stars are older similar to the late 90's. Of the current top 10 or 15 players there are many that are also on the decline or soon will be heading down the mountain. Ages Kawahi 29.6, Harden 31.5, Curry 32.9 Durrant 32.4, Lillard 30.6, George 30.8, Butler 31.4 etc.

All these guys are also going to be declining and the younger guys like Giannis I don't think ages well, he might also be on the decline already and Embid is an injury risk. Other than Doncic I don't see all these young guys ready to take the throne from any of these older ones really.

Tatum, Ingram, Brown, Morant etc don't seem to be that caliber of player. I really think many of these 30 somethings might still be in the top 25 in 4 years and Lebron probably is still better than them and a top 10 player at 40 because will all these older guys declining similarly. I could easily see that simply because I don't see the young wave of players coming to take the top 10 away from them.

Why not?
Most players reach super star level at 22 or older, like harden, kobe,... Steph, kawhi and lillard had their first truly great season at age 25. Lebron, Durant and doncic are more of an exception starting to peak already at 20.
And now Tatum is having a nice season averaging over 25 ppg while beeing 22.
At age 21 Cp3 averaged 17 ppg and 9 ass compared to Morant right now who so far averages nearly 19 ppg and 8 ass for the season.

Tatum and Morant don't have the ability to lead their team and close out games yet like Lebron, Durant, Steph, cp3, etc. They are still young and could eventually learn to do so, but right now I don't see it. You can just tell a huge difference between the old guys and young guys abilities when you take out the numbers (stats). Plus you do have to consider that today's game is a lot more fast pace than when Lebron and cp3 first entered the league. It's a lot more of running the floor and shooting the 3 now. Back then Lebron and cp3's era had centers that actually posted up. Tatum and Morant have the advantage statistics wise today due to the fast pace.