LOS ANGELES — Someday we will look back and marvel at how LeBron James was able to do it. How at an age most men are doing circuit training and taking a closer look at cholesterol counts, James is still drawing triple teams on an NBA floor. Even in an era of athletes aging gracefully, where Tom Brady won a Super Bowl at 43 and Alexander Ovechkin is still pumping in goals at 40, what James, weeks shy of his 41st birthday, continues to do stands apart.
James officially kicked off his NBA-record 23rd season on Tuesday. He played 30 minutes in Los Angeles’s 140–126 win over Utah, racking up a double-double (11 points, 12 assists) in his first game since last April. He was sharp with his shot (4 of 7 from the field), explosive off the dribble and comfortable flipping passes in his role as the Lakers’ facilitator-in-chief.
