At over 39 years old and set to turn 40 before the end of the calendar year, LeBron James has now spent more than half his life as a star player in the NBA with still seemingly more to contribute. With 20 seasons of professional basketball now to his credit, James' longevity is beginning to add to his legacy. And there's one person in particular that James has to thank for that.

Near the end of his 20th full regular season in the NBA, James credited his longtime trainer Mike Mancias for helping him continue his career at a high level through 20 years.

"There's no way I'd be playing 20 seasons without him. It's literally that simple," James said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. "There's no way I'd be able to still be playing at this level without him. I mean, he's that essential to my game, to my performance, to everything that I do. To my mental. So, there's no way. I mean, I could have got 7-to-12 years of this. But 20? There's no way without him."

Now one of the oldest players in the NBA, James has dealt with nagging injuries over the past two seasons, including a tendon issue in his foot that limited him to 54 games in 2022-23. Despite that, James still averaged 28.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game on 49.9% shooting from the floor, allowing the Los Angeles Lakers to make the Western Conference playoffs.