Dwyane Wade on LeBron James' Longevity: 'Do Something That No One Has Done Before'

Three years after Dwyane Wade's retirement, LeBron James is still going strong with the Los Angeles Lakers and facing championship-level expectations.

Wade says he's spoken to James about his continued brilliance in Year 19, telling his longtime friend to continue making history on the floor.

"We haven't seen this. I think we're all on the train of keep going, bro...do something that no one has done before," Wade told Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium. I told him this when I retired: 'You’re going to play so long that people are going to forget we even played together. That's how long you're gonna play.' I'm just trying to enjoy it as long as I can before he's on this side with me and we're drinking too much wine."

James' historic brilliance is borderline unprecedented in basketball. Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were long since retired by Year 19. Kobe Bryant was dealing with significant injuries that left him a shell of his former self. 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was an All-Star in his 19th season, but he was a greatly diminished player who could use his 7'2" frame to stay impactful.

LeBron has the longevity of Kareem but is still carrying the same level of expectations he did during his prime. 

It's clear that age is catching up with him. This is the third season in the past four that James has missed a sizable chunk of time because of injury after being healthy for most of his career. But when LeBron is on the floor, he's clearly still one of the best half-dozen or so players in the sport.

It's a marvel we probably won't appreciate enough until he's retired.