Even in his 17th NBA season, LeBron James is easily in the MVP conversations once again. James will soon celebrate his 35th birthday, but if you didn’t know his age, you would think he is in his mid 20’s by the way he started this season. Consistency is a term associated with LeBron, who is currently averaging 25.6 points, a league-best 11 assists, and 7.5 rebounds per game playing 35 minutes per game. The Lakers are now the best team in the league, and things are finally looking good for the team in purple and gold.

In an interview on ESPN’s show The Jump, Scottie Pippen raised an interesting point about LeBron’s ability to still be a dominant force in the league despite his age. Based on the fact Pippen himself was still a solid player in his twilight years, he understands LeBron’s mindset and preparation for each game now.

Pippen said LeBron is managing everything much better than he previously did, which is one of the reasons behind Lakers’ success. Pippen also believes the number of minutes LeBron is playing right now won’t affect his performance later in the season only because it seems LeBron knows what he is doing.

“I played for a while in this league, and I know when you get to that age, you are in your prime, and LeBron James right now is in the prime age of his career. He is managing his body better, he is managing his minutes, and he is managing his possessions on the basketball floor. He is still running down the court and stopping guys in transition but just the ability to be a better floor general out on the basketball court putting guys in the right position to be successful. That is what I see in LeBron James right now, and I feel like these 35 minutes are not hard minutes on his body. He is managing his moments on the court and picking his time to turn it on.”