Lakers' LeBron 'In a Battle with' Father Time and 'I'm Kicking His Ass on the Back 9'
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James maintains he'll continue to defy the aging curve amid a somewhat slow start to the 2025-26 NBA season.
"[Remember] when I did the Father Time commercial thing [for Nike]?" he told reporters after Sunday's 125-101 win over the Sacramento Kings, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "I'm in a battle with him. And I would like to say that I'm kicking his ass on the back nine."
McMenamin pointed out James has averaged 23.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 7.4 assists in 56 games since turning 40. The 21-time All-Star isn't at his peak anymore, but no NBA player his age has maintained this standard into their 40s.
Father Time is starting to exact a bigger toll, though.
James missed the first 14 games this year while recovering from right-side sciatica. He has since sat out two additional games in late November and early December.
Players must appear in at least 65 games to be eligible for end-of-season honors, so James can only sit out a total of 17 contests and still hope to keep his historic All-NBA streak alive for a 22nd straight year.
He already saw one of his historic streaks broken on Dec. 4, when he was held to fewer than 10 points in a game the first time since 2007.
Those broken streaks are a sign of James' changing role on an offense led this season by Luka Dončić.
While giving up some of his workload to Dončić, the NBA's all-time leading scorer is averaging 20.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game when available so far this season.
The most important thing for the Lakers will be keeping James available down the stretch of his historic age-41 season.
Regardless of his All-NBA candidacy, Lakers fans will hope to see James available to play alongside Dončić by the time this team makes a push for the playoffs in the spring.
"I don't want to create the narrative of [just] me and Luka," James said, per McMenamin. "It's five guys on the floor and seven guys that come off the bench. It needs to be all of us. [But] it's important that we set the tone."
.jpg?w=480)
