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Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is ready for fans to stop being surprised by his dominant 21st NBA season.
"After all this time I'm still proving them wrong," James wrote Friday on X, formerly Twitter.
James' comment referred to doubts that he had meant to complete the no-look pass that set up an Anthony Davis dunk during a Thursday night loss to the Denver Nuggets.
James is averaging 24.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.6 assists through 47 starts. He turned 39 in December.
This isn't the first time this season James has taken to social media in order to challenge critics.
In that post, James appeared to reference comments by Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, who before the start of the 2023-24 season described James to reporters as "an elder, wise man on the court, as well as off the court."
"Old Man Wise still got the game in a chokehold/ It's been over 2 decades I've been in this mode," James wrote in December.
James, who was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the No. 1 pick of the 2003 draft, is the sixth player in NBA history to play 21 seasons. He joins Vince Carter, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Robert Parish and Kevin Willis as the most experienced veterans in league history.
By season No. 21, the veterans ahead of James were contributing to their teams in diminishing roles. Of those five names on the list ahead of James, Carter, who averaged 7.4 points per game as a bench player for the 2018-19 Atlanta Falcons, had the most productive 21st season.
That puts James in a unique position. Not only is the Lakers forward playing at an All-Star level, but his continued success is necessary for the 27-26 Lakers' hopes of getting into the playoffs.
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