Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is getting up there in age, entering his 23rd season at the age of 40 years old.

NBA veteran compares one college basketball phenom to LeBron James originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

LeBron James didn't join the Los Angeles Lakers for their road trip this week, but he's still getting work against high-level competition.

Thanks to the hype that has followed James since the beginning of his career, he has no shortage of basketball cards to choose from.

The Los Angeles Chargers are part of a winning city. The Dodgers just won their second consecutive World Series and the Lakers near the top of the Western conference. The Bolts are 7-3 and looking to make a deep playoff run for the first time with Justin Herbert at the helm.

The Cavaliers, of course, are the team that James is most associated with, as he spent 11 seasons with them during two separate stints. However, they're over the second apron, which severely limits what they're allowed to take back in any trade scenario, so they would need to rectify their financial situation in order to acquire James this summer.

When LeBron took his talents to South Beach to join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, expectations were there for them to win every season. However, when James managed to score just 17.8 points per game in the 2011 NBA Finals, the four-time MVP was blamed for the Heat's fall.

For the first time in his 23 seasons in the NBA, LeBron James is playing on an expiring contract. Whether this is a sign that the debatably greatest player of a