Timeless

 Some things will always be, and a few of them we know. The sun will rise in the east.  Batteries will die when it's most inconvenient. And the next time you hit the McDonald's drive-thru, the shake machine will be broken again.

Here's one more: We'll open a sports page or website on a given morning, and there will be LeBron James, putting up another triple-double.

He did it again the other night, compiling 35 points, 12 rebounds and 14 assists to carry the Los Angeles Lakers on his back again. It was his third triple-dub in a row. He's been playing in the NBA for 21 years, and next month he'll be 40 years old.

So, yes, he is timeless, or as close to it as mortals ever come. Man discovers fire; LeBron goes for 35, 12 and 14. The Roman empire falls; LeBron drops 28, 12 and 10 on the Alaric Avengers. Wars come and go; civilizations rise and fall; the Wright brothers fly ...

... and LeBron rings up another triple-dub. He just goes on and on, like that Buick Skylark you've had since 1978.

And I suppose this is the part where someone even dumber than me would stir up The Debate again, but I'm not goin' there. The old heads say Michael Jordan is the undisputed greatest basketball player in history, unless it's Kareem. I won't argue. I mean, I could, but it's as pointless as arguing with a Trumper. They know what they know, and what they don't know they don't want to know.

What I will say is this: Lebron James is the greatest basketball player in history who's in his 22nd NBA season and turns 40 next month.

Jordan played 15 years and turned 40 in his last season, too, but he'd become primarily a jumpshooter by then. In his last season, with the Washington Wizards, he averaged 20 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists.

Kareem? He played 20 seasons and turned 42 in the last one, when he averaged 10.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists. He was a shadow of his former self that last year, playing just 22 minutes per game.

As of this morning, LeBron James, 39 for another month, is still logging 40.8 minutes per game. And he's averaging 24.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 9.4 assists -- the latter of which places him third in the league in the season's early stages.

Did someone say "timeless"?

Oh, you bet. Go back 15, 16 years and dial up footage of him, and he's virtually the same player he is now. Except for the slings and arrows of advancing age, he's still doing a lot of the same things on the floor he did as a 22- or 23- or 24-year-old.

And that, boys and girls, is damn remarkable. So here's to him.