"We ain't f**king with LeBron": Mike Brown revisits stopping Michael Malone from disrupting young LeBron James

In his 21st NBA season, LeBron James continues to impress as if he isn't playing professional basketball at 38 years of age. Not every past superstar or legend can say that they were still playing at a high level once they reached that age in their careers. For the Lakers star, however, he simply could do just that, as the numbers and the eye tests speak for themselves.

Interestingly, James' former Cleveland Cavaliers coach (2005-2010), Mike Brown, did an interview on Showtime's "All The Smoke" podcast where he talked about an incident in which he let the 19-time All-Star run the show.

"This one time, I kept us steady," Brown said. "So we go and we start talking, and Mike's like, 'Hey, we got to do this offensively,' I said, 'Woah, no, no, we ain't f***ing with LeBron right now. We going to sit right here and we're going to wait until the buzzer is about to sound and Imma go in there, say my one, two, three and let them get back out on the floor.'"

At the time, Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone was Brown's assistant coach. The former Cavaliers coach knew the talent that the team had with LeBron James, even at a young age.

When James first came to the league, he was already living up to the excitement built around him as a unique and versatile basketball player. Despite suggestions from his assistant coach, Brown was aware of letting your star run things in certain games, especially when they're in that zone.

"And so I went back in the huddle," Brown added, "and LeBron was saying something. I just stood there and listened."

From Brown's comments, he shook his head when his coaching staff looked at him following what LeBron James said in the huddle. Despite wanting to run a specific play that he had in mind, he trusted what his young star was planning on doing and had the confidence to let him be who he was on the court.

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Mike Brown talks about how LeBron James made his Cleveland Cavaliers coaching job manageable

Back when he was coaching the Cleveland Cavaliers, Mike Brown instilled some success within the organization as they reached the NBA Finals once (2007) and even had two back-to-back 60-win seasons.

In the same interview on Showtime's "All The Smoke" podcast, Brown was asked if he was ready for the head coach position and what made things manageable.

"If I was keeping it real, no," Brown said. "Even though we had a lot of success because we had LeBron James, he was still growing and learning too. But he made my job a lot easier."

Despite feeling that he was not ready for the huge role and LeBron James being a young star at the time, the 2003 No.1 pick had enough in him to make Brown's job a lot easier. Even if he was still learning as each season went on, James was the kind of player a coach could rely on to do more than what he was asked for.

In James' first seven seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he averaged 27.8 points (47.5% shooting, including 32.9% from 3-point range), 7.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game.