LeBron James is back for season No. 21 in the NBA ahead of the 2023-2024 campaign, and a couple things have changed. For one, James has switched his number from No. 6 to No. 23 out of respect for Bill Russell. Also, with Udonis Haslem and Andre Iguodala both unsigned and unofficially retired, James is now the oldest active player in the NBA.
LeBron James is the oldest player in NBA, and he had a perfect reaction to hearing it
Even LeBron can’t believe he’s now the oldest player in the NBA.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
James starts the season at 38 years old, and turns 39 years old on Dec. 30. James will be one of six players in NBA history to play at least 21 seasons. He joins Robert Parish, Kevin Willis, Kevin Garnett, and Dirk Nowitzki as players who have reached season No. 21. Only Vince Carter has played in 22 seasons.
LeBron was told that he’s the NBA’s oldest player for the first time in his career at practice at Thursday. Here was his reaction.
James is getting near the end of his career, but he’s still capable of incredible moments of athleticism. One of his dunks at practice this week made new teammate Jaxon Hayes pause an interview in disbelief.
James was born in 1984. Here are some other former NBA players born in the same year: Deron Williams, Kendrick Perkins, Charlie Villanueva, Andrew Bogut, Aaron Gray, and Sean May. All of those guys have been out of the league and the NBA spotlight for so many years at this point. Meanwhile, LeBron still has championship aspirations with the Lakers this year.
James remains an incredibly polarizing superstar: some fans love him, others can’t wait until he’s retired. That’s just the way it goes with greatness. Either way, the NBA doesn’t have many years left with LeBron on the floor. Let’s appreciate what he’s doing while we still can.
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