"Brady in Tampa" - Colin Cowherd makes striking claim about LeBron James' play since Lakers added Luka Doncic

Colin Cowherd likened LeBron James' resurgent play since the LA Lakers paired him with Luka Doncic to Tom Brady silencing doubters about his age and ability to win when he joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a historic run with the New England Patriots.

Since the blockbuster trade that sent Anthony Davis — his championship-winning teammate from 2020 — to the Mavericks, LeBron has been on a tear, averaging 28.9 points, 10.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists over 10 games.

The Lakers are on a five-game winning streak and hold the No. 4 seed in the competitive Western Conference. According to Cowherd, beyond LeBron James' impact on winning, there's a clear mission: proving he still has plenty left in the tank and remains better than the league’s young stars.

“I have watched LeBron in the last week outplay Ant Edwards, Luka, Jokic and Kyrie Irving,” Cowherd said. “He has been the best player in the NBA in the last week.”

“His defense right now, it looks like he's 27. It's insane. His energy — better than Luka. His shooting right now — better than Luka. His on-ball defense, his scoring, LeBron at 40 years old, has better consistent energy than any other Laker.”

Cowherd compared it to Brady’s late-career resurgence, when Patrick Mahomes was anointed the NFL’s new top quarterback, only for Brady to beat him multiple times, including in the Super Bowl.

“When Tom Brady beat Mahomes at Arrowhead Stadium in the AFC Championship, and then he beat him in the Super Bowl — everybody by then was falling in love and sort of was saying, ‘Brady's old.’” … Brady beat him twice — in Arrowhead and over time and in the Super Bowl. (That’s) Tom Brady reminding you, ‘Yeah, it goes through me.”

“LeBron is reminding everybody right now, ‘Yeah, for 10 years the East went through me. … Now the West is going to go through me.

LeBron James on the ‘face of the NBA’ discussion

While LeBron James has outperformed some of the league’s brightest young stars in recent games, he also empathizes with them regarding the constant "face of the NBA" debate.

For years, James has been the undisputed face of the league, but as his career nears its final chapters, discussions have intensified over who will take up the mantle.

After the Lakers' victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday, LeBron James was asked about the narrative, especially after Anthony Edwards was questioned on the topic and expressed he had no interest in the title.

“He ain’t trying to deal with that s**t,” James said (per Lakers Nation). “I mean, it’s unfortunate, but, like, why do you want to be the face of a league when all the all to put all the people that you know that cover our game and talk about our game on a day-to-day basis s**t on everybody?”

The NBA boasts a new wave of young stars leading their teams to success, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder), Jayson Tatum (Celtics), Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers) and Ja Morant (Grizzlies).