Past the midway point of the 2025-26 regular season, it's safe to say LeBron James is the great player anyone has ever seen in Year 23. That, in itself, offers a good chuckle considering no other player in NBA history has even made it this far during their careers.
Vince Carter made it to 22 seasons played. Chris Paul, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, Kevin Willis, and Robert Parish got to 21. None of the final seasons for those players come close to what LeBron is doing now, even with him being further along in terms of mileage.
James continues to perform at the level of a star. The craziest part about that would be no one talking about him needing to hang it up at the end of the year either. On the contrary, most are wondering where the next stop will be for his 24th season. How has LeBron managed to sustain this type of play for this long? By his own admission, a big part of it has been his mind.
"For me it's just about having growth mindset," James said on an episode of Mind the Game. "Understanding the game of basketball evolves and the game of basketball changes, you have to be able to see the table turn. You have to be able to evolve with it."
LeBron James points to a growth mindset as the reason he never stopped evolving
James would explain in great detail to his guest, Tyrese Haliburton, how much different things looked throughout his NBA career from the original stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers to the years with the Miami Heat, and onward. Throughout that whole process, the current Los Angeles Lakers star never got left behind.
It's easy to talk about. It's a lot more difficult to execute. James has managed all the same.
Even before this season started, James was talking about the adjustments he was trying to make to better fit with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. The catch-and-shoot ability LeBron discussed at the time has been steadily rising and rounding into form after a slow start to the season.
James may not be what he once was at the peak of his powers from 2011 to 2018 (or whatever arbitrary range you would want to put on the most ridiculous stretch of longevity in NBA history). However, the Lakers star remains more than productive. It's always worth the time to sit back and think about just how nutty that is.