What LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers just accomplished by taking down the Houston Rockets in six games is the kind of thing that gets spoken of in NBA legend.

LeBron James, at age 41, in his 23rd season, playing with his own son as a teammate, suddenly became the first option on a hopeful playoff team where he'd just grown accustomed to relying on the support of two star guards, one of them the league's leading scorer.

Then, in a moment, both of those star guards, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, were suddenly sidelined with injuries, leaving James to carry the weight of a franchise on his shoulder yet again.

Heading into the opening series against the Rockets, expectations were low for the Lakers. Many simply wrote them off and assumed that a series victory, maybe even a sweep, was in the Rockets' future.

But James stepped up to the plate. He led the Lakers in both average points with 23.2 per game and assists with 8.3 per game while averaging 7.2 rebounds on top of that. He led the Lakers with 28 points in their series-deciding Game 6 victory and hit a game-tying three pointer with seconds left in the game in Game 3.

His performance in this series alone is yet another accolade that cements his status as one of the best players of all time, if not the best, and what he's been able to accomplish has left even his teammates shocked. 

When Reaves, who returned for Games 5 and 6, was asked about what surprised him about James after watching his performance.

"Everything, honestly," Reaves said (via Spectrum SportsNet). "I just went over to him and was like, 'You're insane. The stuff that you're doing is not normal.' Especially age, whatever, he's been in the league for 23 years. The way that he demands a game, the way he can control a game... I'm just happy that I don't have to play against him."

James has been no stranger to leading teams, that's what his two stints in Cleveland were defined by, but everything that he was able to accomplish in this past series against Houston at his age puts everything into a new perspective.

The Lakers are moving on to their toughest challenge yet against the Oklahoma City Thunder in round two, a team they never defeated during the 2025-26 regular season, and it's looking increasingly likely that Doncic won't be available for that series either. 

It will be another heavy load on James but no matter the end result, what he achieved by defeating Houston is yet another chapter in his legacy.