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Come Fan with UsTuesday, June 23, 2026

LeBron James’ dunk was so good it shouldn’t be possible for a 40-year-old

LeBron casually uncorked a dunk that shouldn’t be possible for a 40-year-old man.

Ricky O'Donnell
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.

LeBron James is the oldest player in the NBA, but there are times when he still feels like one of the most athletic. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar turned 40 years old in Dec., and he’s still playing some amazing basketball.

It looked like LeBron might finally be losing ground to father time this season, but he’s washed away his slow start since coming back from an 8-day absence. James has been on a complete tear as of late, helping the Lakers go 7-2 over their last nine games. As LA took on the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night, the Lakers were already up to No. 5 in the Western Conference standings.

In the first quarter, James turned back to the clock for a signature dunk that combined speed and power like only he can. Dallas big man Dereck Lively II made the mistake of jumping with Bron, and he responded by uncorking a lefty windmill dunk on his head for a ridiculous poster. As the everyone in the arena was losing their mind at the play, James stole Dallas’ inbounds pass and set up another Lakers scoring chance.

Watch James’ poster dunk against the Mavs here:

Here’s another angle:

LeBron has been amazing since he stepped away from the team. The Lakers made a big move getting Dorian Finney-Smith on the roster, and they still have assets to add another piece.

Can the Lakers actually make a run this year? If James is playing like this, it isn’t impossible.

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