After 22 years and 1525 regular seasons in the NBA, one thing remains constant about LeBron James and that is his freakish athleticism. Even at 40, the Lakers ace is going toe to toe with players half his age and overpowering them. If that’s not greatness at finest, then what is? He proved that again recently during the Lakers’ game against the Mavs and is already picking up votes for ‘Dunk of the Year’.

Despite the 118-97 loss to the Dallas side on Tuesday night, LeBron James left his mark on the game with a memorable dunk. His punch through the rim over Dereck Lively II has already garnered close to 1 million views across all social media platforms. Austin Rivers, too,  couldn’t get enough of it. “LeBron James’ dunk the other night, for people who missed it, if you live under a f**king rock, LeBron James’ dunk the other night versus Dallas was the dunk of the year in the NBA,” the ex-NBA star declared on his podcast.

Giving the example of Blake Griffin, Rivers pointed out how his agility and athleticism diminished at the latter end of his career. “I don’t think people understand how the human body works as a professional athlete. By age 32, 33, your hops are gone,” he added. Rivers even gave his example of his inability to take flight for a dunk at 32.

He further explained how even the most mobile players lose their spring once they age and start playing more from beyond the 3-point arc. But that doesn’t seem to apply to LeBron. The 20-time NBA All-Star recently broke another of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record by playing 1 billion minutes in the league. The record came last month in the win against the Sacramento Kings, but would’ve certainly had LeBron’s name on it if injuries didn’t bother him.

LeBron James comes clean on lingering injury issue

So far in the Lakers’ 20-16 record this season, LeBron James has participated in 33 games. The rest of the 3 were missed due to his extended leave of absense. Last month, he stayed away from the team for a brief window due to ‘personal reasons’. Later it was revealed how his left foot injury still bothers him to this day.

“It’s not behind me,” James said of the foot injury recently. “It’s an every day thing. … But I was able to do some great things (on my break).” The Chosen One is averaging 23.8 points per game this season in 34.9 average minutes. While he recently made a bold claim about wanting to play for another 7-8 years, that seems a longshot even for a physical specimen like LeBron.

But no one’s complaining if he indeed pulls that off by 2032. Till then fans can only relish his majestic plays on the hardboard, leaving embarrassed youngsters and veterans alike in his wake.