A great love is difficult to leave behind. It is never, and will never be, easy to part from it. That is why, perhaps, for LeBron James saying goodbye to professional basketball is not something that crosses his mind.
Far from wanting to close a 23-year story in the NBA, it seems he wants to be eternal regardless of the age the ‘King’ reaches. He shows that from time to time with the performances he delivers during the 2025-26 season.
For James, continuing to play in league games is what keeps him enormously alive. And his numbers reflect that. In the matchup against the Dallas Mavericks, he exploded for a triple-double.
I’ve never been sorry at basketball. I’ve been good ever since I started playing.
This makes it clear that, at least for now, he does not see himself sitting on the couch in his living room watching games next to his wife and daughter.
A LeBron James who goes toe to toe with time
LeBron is now 41 years old, and despite the fact that injuries have become more frequent, that seems not to matter to him as he continues to prove he is a great tamer of the god Chronos.
- 28 points
- 12 assists
- 10 rebounds
With those numbers, he became the oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double. He shattered the record held by Karl Malone, which had stood for 22 years.
After such a special performance this past Thursday, February 12, 2026, against the Mavs, a reporter asked James whether he was ready to play many more years.
I could. But I don’t know. It’s not like my game… my game is not going anywhere.”…”It’s just my body. It’s so many more factors that come with how long will I play the game. I don’t think my game will ever suffer if I decided to continue to go, however long that is. I just think it has to be here (points to mind): how long can I stay in love with the process?” Because that’s always been my thing.
James said and added.
If I can’t continue to stay in love with the process, then if this goes, then my body’s gonna go. And once my body goes, then it’s a wrap. Then the love goes, and then the fun and all that stuff goes. So that’s what it is.
It’s not my game (that) is deteriorating. Obviously, you know, there are things I could have done when I was 25 compared to 35 and 35 to 41. But I have so much knowledge of the game that I know how to still continue to make an impact, if I’m not 45, 43, 41 vertical, you know, I can still do so many things on the floor.
So everything seems to indicate there will be LeBron for quite a while, and that retirement is probably not close.
