This season LeBron James broke records as a 37-year-old player who averaged 30.3 points in 37.2 minutes per game.
The four-time NBA champion is known for his longevity but in order for him to realize his dream of playing alongside his eldest son Bronny the Lakers need to make drastic changes, says league legend Gary Payton.
His solution is for Los Angeles to add young players around LeBron that would support him and take some of that load off of him.
“If LeBron wants to play with his son somewhere, he’s going to have to slow down. He’s going to have to play like 33-34 minutes and winning games and be happy,” Payton said on SiriusXM NBA Radio.
“I know he takes care of his body but it won’t work with what he’s doing right now because it’s not going to happen. They’re going to keep pounding him, keep pounding him, he’s going to be competitive but his body is going sooner or later say ‘Stop!’
“You have to have somebody around him. I think the Lakers got to understand that. We got to get people at the right positions or the right player, not the older guys, you got to get some of these young guys coming in and give him support. If you don’t, Eddie, I don’t think LeBron will last two more years.
“I don’t think that’d happen because they’re getting in into him, you see he’s not played a long time right now. That’s just the way it is. They have to make drastic changes for [LeBron] to be around two to three more years.”
