LeBron James

How the NBA star reinvented the modern athlete over a historic 23 seasons

- Sean Gregory/El Segundo

JAMES IN EL SEGUNDO, CALIF., ON APRIL 15

A PURPLE SMOCK ADORNED WITH SMILEY FACES CLOAKS LEBRON JAMES’ body around 7:30 a.m. one mid-April morning, as he’s groomed for a magazine cover shoot at the Los Angeles Lakers practice facility in El Segundo, Calif. Typically, this would be awful timing for a reflective talk with one of the world’s most famous people. James hasn’t been sleeping well. His speech is groggy. A first-round playoff series with the Houston Rockets opens in three days. He has practice soon.

But throughout a rare exclusive interview, James is utterly locked in. In fact, I can’t recall an athlete more present for one of these sit-downs. As some half-dozen people hover around him, James maintains his focus, answering each question that comes at him, including the most pressing one: How long does he want to keep playing?

“It’s up to the mind,” says James, 41. “Where the mind goes, the body will lay. When I’m not in love with getting to the arenas on game days five hours before to start my preparation, if I’m out of love with getting to practice 2½ hours beforehand, then I know I’ll be done.”

Right now, James remains very much enamored. “Hell yeah,” he says. “I’m sitting here talking to you. I don’t have a voice, I’ve got practice in an hour. You think I’m not having fun still? I could have my ass at home, with a hot pack on my throat, having a f-cking hot toddy and some scrambled eggs.”

Instead, James continues to sustain his excellence, to a degree never before seen in major pro sports. Already the leading scorer in NBA history, a middle-aged James once again produced at an All-Star level in 2025–26, his 23rd NBA season. When Lakers stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves missed postseason games with injuries, James showed he can still play head honcho, propelling his team past a talented Rockets squad, before the Oklahoma City Thunder sent his undermanned team home.