LeBron James is soon turning 41 years old this December. He is currently the oldest active NBA player, but isn’t acting it. While James is now slowly showing signs of aging on the court, his performances are still on par with some of the younger stars in the league.
Apparently, a 15-time All-Star also believes that James is still improving his game despite his old age.
Age Has Not Stopped LeBron James From Adding New Tricks to His Bag
There’s a saying that goes, “You can’t teach old dogs new tricks.” Apparently, that saying doesn’t apply to James. Now playing in year 23 in the NBA, it’s like we’re witnessing another version of the future Hall of Famer.
15-time All-Star Kevin Durant acknowledged how James aged like fine wine. In a recent episode of “Unguarded”, Durant shared his observations of James’s evolution at the latter part of his career.
Durant was impressed with how James managed to add new weapons to his arsenal. Looking back at James’ career, his offensive style of play mainly focused on getting inside the paint and hitting mid-range jumpers.
However, over time, James became more consistent with his shooting beyond the arc. He also added a fadeaway jumper off a spin coming from a post-up.
Durant noted all these additions to his bag and couldn’t help but applaud the soon-to-be 41-year-old.
“I feel like LeBron is still getting better at his game. I feel like he recently mastered his game at like 38. He added a 3-pointer, a fadeaway, more consistent.”
Kevin Durant thinks LeBron mastered his game at age 38
“I feel like LeBron still getting better at his game. I feel like he recently mastered his game at like 38. He added a 3 pointer, a fadeaway, more consistent.”
(Via unguarded pod) pic.twitter.com/UcuNLRfmFo
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) December 17, 2025
While James’ numbers don’t seem to back up Durant’s sentiments regarding his improvement, it’s simply because the “King” is in a transitional period of passing down the torch to the younger stars of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Looking at James’s numbers this season, it’s the first time he’s averaged less than 20 points per game. James is averaging 17.6 points, 7.2 assists, and 5.7 rebounds. He even broke his streak of scoring 10+ points each game this season. However, he has still shown flashes of brilliance in his chasedown blocks and dunks that never seem to get old.
Interestingly, James has also been impressed with Durant’s long-term efficiency. “He hasn’t shot under 50 percent since like 2012,” James said about Durant on his Mind the Game podcast on July 1.
“And in a league that doesn’t talk about efficiency enough, because I’m one of those efficiency guys. Like I hate going out there, just chucking up shots or looking at the box score, and I was maybe 8-for-23 or 9-for-25 or 6-for-18. We haven’t had a scorer as equipped as KD in our league, ever,” he had added.
