The Los Angeles Lakers find themselves just one game away from wrapping up their NBA Finals showdown with the Miami Heat. The stellar play of star forward LeBron James has brought up comparisons to back when he was playing in a Heat uniform.

The 35-year-old has clearly showed no signs of slowing down since his days in Miami. Regardless, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban feels there is a tremendous difference between this version of James and the one his team faced back in the 2011 NBA Finals, per Etan Thomas of Basketballnews.com:

“It’s night and day,” Mark Cuban said of the NBA superstar. “He has the basketball-IQ level now; he’s just a basketball savant. The way he sees and reads what’s happening on the court in real time and stays three steps ahead is incredible. And that’s what makes him special – in addition to his athleticism. He didn’t have that [back in 2011]. We would run a zone against him and he would hesitate and not know what to do. He’s not going to hesitate now. He knows exactly what’s coming and what to do and anticipates it.

The Mavericks famously limited James to the worst Finals performance of his career to pull off the upset over the Heat's Big 3. Although James was considered to be in his prime at that time, Cuban feels that nearly a decade's worth of more experience is now paying huge dividends for him and the Lakers.

James' efforts as the NBA's leader in assists is proof of how much his ability to conduct the offense has improved through the years. Battling through both the physical and mental challenges of an unprecedented season due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic certainly helps to solidify this notion.

Unlike Dallas, Miami does not appear to have an answer for this healthy balance that James has achieved. As a result, Los Angeles is now in position to secure No. 17 in dominant fashion.