The 2025–26 season of the National Basketball Association will be LeBron James’ 23^rd in the pro scene. The number is, no doubt, significant for him any which way; after all, he has worn it on his jersey for much of his career, paying homage to childhood idol Michael Jordan while carving out a legacy so distinct, so immense, that it now stands beyond comparison. And in a league where superstars are chewed up and spit out with frightening regularity, he’s still impacting games, still commanding attention, still setting the standard for professionalism and performance.

To be sure, hoops annals are littered with examples of all-time greats who have also aged gracefully. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, and Dirk Nowitzki, for instance, found ways to contribute substantially in their twilight years. Still, James is different. At 40, he is not merely an outlier; he is a phenomenon without precedent. He has continued to play at an All-NBA level, capable of producing 30-point triple-doubles at any given time, not to mention dictating the flow of a game as a point-forward with the basketball IQ of a coach and the physicality of a linebacker.

Most players evolve or adapt to survive. James reinvents to thrive. He entered the league in 2003 as a teenage freight train of hype and potential. Over two decades, he has become a veritable chameleon: slashing scorer, post-up technician, stretch shooter, floor general, even small-ball center. He has grown with the game and, in fact, redefined it. The stats alone are mind-boggling: Over 42,000 career points through 59,000-plus minutes — and he’s not done. The clincher is that the figures don’t do him justice. His durability, leadership, and cultural impact exist in rarified air.

In a nutshell, James is not simply about longevity. He is about sustained greatness — year after year, franchise after franchise, era after era. He has gone from playing against Kobe Bryant to mentoring Anthony Edwards. He has faced every basketball single-name archetype — from Shaq to Giannis to Iverson to Luka — and never once looked out of place. There will be other leading lights. There will be future MVPs, champions, and highlight machines. There will never be another him. He’s a one-of-one, an athlete whose combination of talent, intelligence, and longevity has no equal and may never be replicated. Enough said.

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.