LeBron again embarrasses NBA’s future with 40-point night, Lakers snap skid

The fact LeBron James is scoring 40 points when he turns 39 years old next week is both good and bad for the NBA.

Good, because nobody draws fans’ eyeballs like James — and he continues to deliver.

Bad, because at some point, James will retire, and the league’s current 20-somethings can’t stop him. So what’s that say about the league’s 20-somethings?

Either way, the focus should be on James, who did indeed score 40, lifting the Lakers to a 129-120 road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.

The victory snapped a four-game skid for the Lakers (16-12), who won for just the sixth time in 17 road games.

“To know I can go out and still make game-winning plays, can affect the game in multiple ways and can still close out a game in the fourth quarter when our team needed when they started making a run is always a good feeling for sure,” James said.

Anthony Davis erupted for 26 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, and Rui Hachimura added 21 points. And the Lakers taught the much younger Thunder a lesson about the value of experience.

Sadly for the rest of the NBA, old-man James is leading the way for LA in that department, and the young guns still can’t keep up.