The 31-year-old, 14 year NBA veteran and savior of the city of Cleveland, LeBron James is becoming much more introspective as many of us do as we begin to age.
LeBron James has seen a lot of miles on his championship winning legs as he will reach the 1,000 regular season games mark within the fist month of the 2016-17 season. He has also played 199 playoff games in his career. When you combine his total games played since entering the NBA as a prodigy at the age of 18, which is 1,186, that would already rank him in the top 100 for NBA history at the age of 31. In all reality he is probably got a third of his career remaining at most.
LeBron is very aware of this fact as he shared that the retirement of possibly the three greatest players in the era before him, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett, have made him think about how his class or era, including himself, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh could be next on deck. Unfortunately the end may be now for Bosh because of his blood clotting issues.
“It feels like our era is next,” James said Tuesday. “That’s what it feels like. Me, [Dwyane] Wade, [Carmelo Anthony], [Chris] Bosh. We’re next. We’re on deck. We’re the next group behind those guys. I mean seriously, if you look at it, we’re the next group. So that’s one of the first things that I thought about, like, once Dirk [Nowitzki], and Vince [Carter], and Paul Pierce decide to go, we’re next. You just don’t take it for granted. Every time we come out here, we talk to you guys, step out on the floor, we’re going to play this game, we love it, but we’re on deck.”
King James went on to say that his career and better days were far from over and he was still as focused and committed to getting better everyday as he has always been, but it is clear that father time lingers in his head and the feeling of invincibility that many young people and athletes have has been replaced with a more measured view of where he is at in his career and life.
LeBron’s feelings are accuratem but I have a feeling with his superior genes, meticulous preparation and intense desire for the game, that he will remain as a mainstay in the league much longer than some of his counterparts, especially his former teammates in Miami.
