LeBron James 'Giving Father Time Hell' in 23rd NBA Season with Lakers, Heat's Erik Spoelstra Says

As the NBA's longest-tenured head coach, Erik Spoelstra has seen plenty of players from his teams retire.

But LeBron James, who helped Spoelstra win a pair of titles, is still around. Ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers' clash with the Heat on Thursday, Spoelstra had high praise for his former star.

"He's competing against Father Time and he's giving Father Time hell," Spoelstra said, per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press.

It's been 14 years since James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh led the Heat to a title in 2012. James won league MVP that year, and it's widely considered to be one of the best seasons of his career.

James is far from the player he was then, but he hasn't declined nearly as much as a 41-year-old should have to this point. In his 23rd season, James is putting up 21.4 points, 6.8 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game. He's coming off a win over the Houston Rockets in which he had 30 points on a wildly efficient 13-of-14 from the field.

Lakers-Rockets Full Highlights

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While James isn't the Lakers' No. 1 option, he could very well help guide them to another championship, which would be his fifth total. Los Angeles has had some ups and downs this year, but has been red-hot recently, winning 10 of its last 11 games to move into third place in the Western Conference at 44-25.

Just like James, Spoelstra has managed to stay consistent as well. Miami had some down years after James' exit, but has missed the postseason just three times since 2014 and has made two NBA Finals appearances — one of which was against James.

Since James' future is still unclear, Thursday could be the last meeting between he and Spoelstra, but it seems likely he'll be back for a 24th season next year.