Year 17. It is almost unprecedented for an athlete to sustain such a high level of play for so long, and yet LeBron James has done so. James is one of the most gifted athletes this sport has ever seen. Sans Kareem Abdul Jabbar, we have never seen an athlete be at the top for so long. Not even Jordan played at such a high level for so long (baseball might have something to do with that).
This is expected from LeBron. No athlete has ever had such high expectations from the moment he stepped on the hardwood floor.