“I don’t [feel 38]. I’m just going out there and playing free. Free basketball. I feel like it’s not anything that I can not do, that I did in my twenties out on the basketball floor,” James told reporters after Tuesday’s 134-107 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

“I feel like it’s not anything that I can not do, that I did in my twenties out on the basketball floor.” LeBron James on if he feels 38 years old. <a href=”https://t.co/UaZQ4o5Gkt”>pic.twitter.com/UaZQ4o5Gkt</a>

James finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists in 23 minutes as the Lakers sat him in the fourth quarter of the blowout.

The future Hall of Famer has been nothing short of brilliant to start the 2023-24 season, averaging 24.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists while shooting 56.7 percent from the field. His performance level at his age is something we’ve never seen before at the NBA level. Perhaps the only reasonable comparison is to Tom Brady, but LeBron doesn’t exactly have an offensive line and skill-position players helping prop him up.

To James’ contention that he hasn’t slowed in his 21st season, well, that’s obviously not true. He’s nowhere near the same defender he was during his heights in Miami, and he no longer possesses the generational athleticism that defined his first run in Cleveland. Those traits have instead been replaced with a refined skill set, a basketball IQ unlike anything we’ve ever seen and sheer work ethic to ensure his body remains as intact as possible.

The Lakers have been determined to keep James’ minutes down, but injuries to the rest of the roster have forced him past the 35-minute mark six times in 10 games.

Father Time remains undefeated—even for seeming non-mortals like James—so limiting the finite amount of minutes he has remaining on his body will be paramount to the Lakers’ long-term championship hopes. For now, though, the slowed-down version of James is making guys barely over half his age look silly.