4 days ago
LeBron James will break another long-standing record on Opening Night
I gotta be honest. At this point, I assume that LeBron James already holds most of the relevant individual NBA records.
I mean, James has been playing professional basketball for 20 years. He did surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA's all-time scoring leader a couple of years ago. He's an all-timer still playing at an All-Star-caliber level at the age of 40. Those kinds of guys usually rewrite the record books as they go, you know?
LA TENSION: LeBron is overstaying his welcome with Lakers
But no. With the NBA revealing the schedule for some of its more notable 2025-2026 marquee dates on Tuesday, James somehow has another impressive accolade in his crosshairs.
When his Los Angeles Lakers play the Golden State Warriors on Opening Night, James will officially become the all-time leader in NBA seasons played, surpassing the legendary Vince Carter, with whom he is still currently tied at 22 seasons apiece. Again, this is objectively bonkers now that I see it at face value and laid out like this, but I'm surprised James hadn't already achieved this!
Well, the more you know:
I'm gonna be candid again.
I think James is the best basketball player ever. Full stop. I will definitely appreciate him while he's still around, but I really hope he will just retire soon already. It'd be nice and appreciated if he stepped out of the spotlight for the NBA's next generation. But if he's going to keep stacking achievements like this as an active NBA player, who are any of us to hate on that?
He's penning his legend every time he steps on the court.
Who are some of the other NBA icons with the most seasons played?
I'm glad you asked. Aside from James and Carter, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, Kevin Willis, and Robert Parish all played at least 21 seasons. Next to James, Chris Paul is the only other active player with at least 20 seasons played.
Can James break any other NBA records this year?
Yes! If the Lakers' forward plays at least 50 regular-season games this season, he will surpass Parish (1,611) for the most-played regular-season games all time.
