LeBron James will go down as one of the best to ever lace them up in the NBA when it's all said and done, with the 35-year-old arguably one of the greatest physical athletes the league has seen.

His athletic dominance is easy to point to, but his ability to control games with his basketball IQ has become ever-present, especially in his later years, operating more as a floor general. While his knowledge of the game is one thing, his desire to pass on that knowledge is described as his 'biggest superpower' according to former teammate Iman Shumpert. 

“It's like he has to share basketball knowledge with people,” Shumpert said in an interview with VladTV. “It might be his biggest superpower; his ability to get everybody on the same page.”

“Like, it’s actually kind of scary.”

Shumpert, who played alongside James across four seasons in Cleveland, winning a championship in 2016, went on to describe just how deep James' knowledge runs, from their own playbook to everything their opponents are doing on any given night. 

“It’s unbelievable,” Shumpert said. “Talking about someone who knows the playbook, where everybody is supposed to be. [He] knows the other team’s coach’s playbook, style of coaching, how his ball club is going to play.

“Bron’s one of them when we’ll be going into Philly tonight, and he’ll be like, ‘Nah, but they just hired the new defensive coach, but he was at Georgetown for three years, and I played for him one time at camp, and this is how they’re going to play us.’

“And you’d be like, ‘What?

It's no surprise, given his illustrious career, which includes three NBA championships, four Most Valuable Player of the Year awards, and 16 All-Star selections, but James' ability to elevate the play of those around him may well go down as one of the greatest hallmarks of his playing career.  

“There were times where you’ve got somebody who has been red-hot, and they’re running it off, and we’re like, ‘Um, the scouting report said...’, and he’d be like, ‘Yeah, but I let him shoot that because in the left corner he only shoots 26 percent. He shoots 46 percent from three, but he only shoots 26 percent from the left corner.

“And you’d be like, ‘Yes sir.’

“... He made me feel like I didn’t do my homework.”

The views expressed here do not represent those of the NBA or its clubs.