Because he's been in the spotlight since he was an underclassman in high school (and also still happens to be playing at an elite level) it's sometimes only natural to forget that LeBron James is now 32-years-old and currently in his 14th NBA season.
If that makes you feel old, no worries, it did it to us too.
While he had nearly unreachable expectations coming straight out of prep school, he's somehow managed to live up to the crazy hype that has claimed oh so many other young prodigies who buckle under the weight of the world before they even get their high school diplomas.
Obviously he's had some moments in the course of his 14 NBA seasons that have been criticized, sometimes overly so, but he credits his time in Miami with helping him develop his leadership skills, which he then brought back to Cleveland to give that city their first major sports championship in more than 50 years (they'll probably make that into a movie someday).
Add that to the fact that he's parlayed his on-court success into a business career that'd make Fortune execs. jealous and you can see why he's essentially become the league's de facto elder statesman. If you need a role model on how to handle yourself, whether you're a young baller, an ambitious businessman, or just a rec league warrior, you could do a lot worse.
