Even as LeBron James has advanced closer to his 40th birthday, which improbably arrives this December, he has shown very few signs of aging. His seemingly endless list of accolades, which recently added an Olympic MVP, reflects as much.

But while he hasn’t lost his spot on an All-NBA roster, he has landed on the third team in each of the past three seasons. That’s a remarkable achievement for almost anyone else, but it’s not where peak-of-his-powers LeBron once resided.

Reversing this trend fears near impossible, and yet this Olympic showing was a reminder that James can still summon best-player-on-the-planet abilities. He has to pace those power-ups to avoid burning himself out over the 82-game marathon, but it shouldn’t take much more than what he’s already doing to make the leap to the first or second team.

Even repeating his 2023-24 performance, when he averaged 25.7 points, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds over 71 outings, might cut it if the Lakers can be just a pinch more competitive. If he provides that volume and efficiency (54 percent shooting overall, 41 percent from three) for a team that snags a top-six seed in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, it’s hard to imagine All-NBA voters denying him a first or second team spot.