This is the New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.

This is the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.

It's a triple double. It's a triple double for LeBron.

There are few better ways in this life to escape some of the terrible burdens of life than to focus and focus for many, many hours.

On talented young men and women running around on a hardwood floor and throwing a large ball through a slightly larger hoop.

It's early April, the climax of the college basketball season and the heart of the regular

season for the pros. The New Yorker writer who walks that beat is my friend Louisa Thomas.

And the other day, Louisa and I sat down to speak of important things.

Louisa, let's start with something close to my heart. LeBron James, who is now, God love him,

41, and people talk about him as if he's, you know, 87. He's in his 23rd NBA season. I don't know how many

games he's played, but he's got the record now by a lot. How good or not is he at the age

of 41? Something extraordinary is happening, which is he has become precisely the player that the Lakers need to really become contenders in some sense.

He has become the best supporting player that you can possibly imagine.

He's a role player now?

He is a role player, but he is not just a role player.

He is the role player. What does that mean? I've been watching him lately. He is flying around. He's cutting. He is moving a transition. He is getting the ball when he is in the perfect spot. The crazy thing is that he's still doing unbelievable athletic things. He's just managing to figure out when to pick his spots.

And it took him a while to get to that point,

but the Lakers are rolling and, you know,

let's be clear, Luca Donchich is their best player.

Austin Reeves is their second best player.

But what LeBron James doing now is really unlocking their potential by making

all the right basketball plays.

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