FS1’s Colin Cowherd has been on television forever at this point, and has dished out plenty of hot takes over the years that have aged terribly. One such take on The Herd in March 2019 resurfaced recently in which Cowherd guaranteed that LeBron James will not be as good as Michael Jordan was at the age of 40.
“LeBron is 34 years old, he will never be as good as Michael Jordan was at 40,” Cowherd said. “LeBron James at 40 will not be in an NBA game six years from now, and we’re all going, ‘Wow, LeBron against Milwaukee, he’s easily the best player on the floor.’
“I don’t buy stats,” Cowherd added. “LeBron will be a tidal wave of stats over Michael Jordan. But I’ll tell you one thing LeBron will never be: as good as Jordan at 40. No way, no how.”
Put this on the Mount Rushmore of cold takes pic.twitter.com/SM2ih96KIQ
— LeBron History 🏀 (@bronhistory) April 5, 2025
This take probably does deserve a spot on Mount Rushmore. Cowherd’s sheer dismissal of the possibility that James would be good at age 40 is what stands out here. No one would have been critical of him today if he had only expressed some doubt back then, as it would have been understandable for anyone to be skeptical that James would still be great in 2025.
NBA players tend to be a shell of themselves when they are 40 years old, which is what made what Jordan did at that age so special. He averaged 20.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game in 2002-03, his last season in the NBA with the Washington Wizards.
Jordan was the first to average at least 20 points at the age of 40, and it wasn’t very likely that James or anyone else, for that matter, would better that. Also working against LeBron specifically was the fact that he’d be in his 22nd season when he turned 40.
No one had played for that long in the league when Cowherd delivered this take, as Vince Carter’s 22nd season was 2019-20. So, history certainly was against James, but with how he had defied the odds time and time again in his career, you just never say never when it comes to him.
James is averaging 24.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 8.4 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024-25. He’s playing the best basketball anyone has played after turning 40, and this is also easily the best 22nd season for any player in NBA history.
James appears to have gas in the tank to keep playing at a high level for another season or two as well. If he does that, then Cowherd’s insistence that he wouldn’t be any good at 40 would seem even more ridiculous.
This is far from Cowherd’s only take on James that has aged poorly. Back in 2018, Cowherd stated the NBA doesn’t need LeBron because of Ben Simmons. He was rather bullish on Simmons’ prospects, but his career certainly hasn’t gone according to plan.
Some even suggested that this season could be Simmons’ last in the NBA, but that seems unlikely. It would have been quite something, though, if his NBA career had ended before James’ did.
