Will we ever see athletic Lebron James again?

[VengefulAngel]

Has lost all leaping ability and cannot finish around the rim in the half court setting.

He tends to have slow starts to the season, but I have seen no improvement whatsoever.

[Papaya Petee]

Gee who knows. It sucks being all nonathletic like LeBron and averaging 25\8\6 to start the season.

[VengefulAngel]

Gee who knows. It sucks being all nonathletic like LeBron and averaging 25\8\6 to start the season.

This is the worst start to the season since his 2nd year. Sorry, but he has top be judged by his high standards.

[Mass Debator]

We'll see him doing athletic dunks in a video going viral right before the all-star dunk contest again. Something like an off the wall tomahawk or a off the bounce tomahawk or an almost free throw line tomahawk or a switcheroo tomahawk or a off the shotclock tomahawk or a tomahawk to a tomahawk

[Eat Like A Bosh]

Will we ever see athletic Derrick Rose again?

[Real Men Wear Green]

If LeBron James isn't athletic I'm not sure the NBA has any athletes. It's normal for a player around 30 to dunk less but he's still bigger stronger and faster than anyone that is going to guard him.

[STATUTORY]

We'll see him doing athletic dunks in a video going viral right before the all-star dunk contest again. Something like an off the wall tomahawk or a off the bounce tomahawk or an almost free throw line tomahawk or a switcheroo tomahawk or a off the shotclock tomahawk or a tomahawk to a tomahawk

TWIST: it's actually a 9ft hoop

[Mass Debator]

TWIST: it's actually a 9ft hoop
Kyrie does a 360 between the legs on it so Lebron and his team locks up the building and confiscates all recordings.

[Prometheus]

No. He can't jump anywhere near as high as he used to.

[j3lademaster]

Could be falling off a little, could be him playing a bit unmotivated; but I think it's a combination of him feeling unmotivated with it being the regular season and all and trying to protect his knees. When you're consistently jumping ~35 inches off the ground and landing on your 250+ lbs frame, your knees get wrecked going into your 30's. I'm sure as a student of the game Lebron understands this.

Of course this is purely speculation based on the fact that Lebron did coast last season, and he's always been a high IQ player so him wanting to protect himself for the longevity of his career doesn't seem farfetched.

[bizil]

There's a difference between not being able to do it at all AND PACING YOURSELF. I've always said in their own way that Bird, Bron, and Magic are unique from the other great perimeter players because they could always move to the PF spot and create havoc from that position as they get older. Bron isn't at that point yet, but it's NO BIG DEAL if his athletic ability takes a huge hit. He's still a freak athlete, he's just in preventative maintenance mode as of now.

ALL the legendary freak athletes who were great for a long ass time (Doc, MJ, Nique, Drexler, Kobe) did this. Other freak athletes like Wade for example aren't as durable and have to scale back the number of games they play due to pain and nagging injuries. Guys like Doc, MJ, Nique, Drexler, and Kobe were still going hard and strong into their mid 30's. Bron's goal is to be like those guys.

[LBJ 23]

Can't believe his leaping ability regressed so much in just 1 year. Look how high he gets on most of his layups and dunks, we have yet to see something similar this season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DY-lTzc2oE

[SwishSquared]

I think he's slowing down (only reasonable to expect given he's a couple weeks short of his 30th birthday) and the fact he's logged so many minutes.

I did notice on that breakaway dunk late last night he got himself higher than I've seen in the CLE games I've seen this year. It's like he turned it on for a few seconds. Granted, not above the rim, but springier than most games.

I'd be interested to see if his fast break opportunities are significantly down compared to last year (like actual stats of opportunities per game). The games this year that I watched seem to have him with fewer wide open fast break opportunities (mostly due to the defensive shortcomings). I think those easy shots got him rolling when he was in MIA- like it hyped himself up

I do think he's getting more selective of when to use it though. He's not in peak shape yet imo, so maybe in another month we'll see some more athletic plays.

[funnystuff]

Its early in the regular season, Lebron is smart enough to know to pace himself now.

[Magic 32]

Its early in the regular season, Lebron is smart enough to know to pace himself now.

http://cdn01.cdnwp.celebuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/14/jennifer-lawrence-10.gif

[FKAri]

If LeBron James isn't athletic I'm not sure the NBA has any athletes. It's normal for a player around 30 to dunk less but he's still bigger stronger and faster than anyone that is going to guard him.

Probably only one of those 3, on average, for any given matchup.

[J Shuttlesworth]

We see the occasional burst of quickness but still haven't seen any real powerful dunks

[upside24]

Last year he looked like he had lost some explosiveness from the previous season and so far this year it seems he has lost more.

09-10 LeBron was the most impressive to me.

Maybe the heavy minutes and playoff games have got to him but I hop not. LeBron is/was so incredible to watch from a physical ability standpoint and I hope we see him return to form but I doubt it.

MJ lost his hops after returning from baseball but he adapted his game to remain effective. Hopefully LeBron does as well.

[Kblaze8855]

Probably only one of those 3, on average, for any given matchup.

What swingmen or power forwards are 2 of the 3....bigger, stronger, and faster?

Lebron is the biggest wing player of all time. If he isnt the strongest hes on a short list with the likes of Ron Artest and maybe...Adrian Dantley types in applied strength.

Who is faster than Lebron...at the size needed to be bigger?

In fact...who in the history of the sport is bigger than Lebron while even guarding people on the perimeter?

Nobody ive ever seen...has 2 of those 3 on Lebron while being a player likely to guard him.

The people bigger and stronger than Lebron wouldnt be guarding him.

The people faster are nowhere close to 6'8'' 255-270.

[upside24]

We see the occasional burst of quickness but still haven't seen any real powerful dunks
I agree. More telling to me is the lack of signature chasedown blocks that used to be every other game but have almost completely vanished after his first year with the Heat.

Maybe he doesn't look for them anymore but the chasedown requires explosive quickness, max speed and explosive leaping to execute.

[MP.Trey]

We'll see him doing athletic dunks in a video going viral right before the all-star dunk contest again. Something like an off the wall tomahawk or a off the bounce tomahawk or an almost free throw line tomahawk or a switcheroo tomahawk or a off the shotclock tomahawk or a tomahawk to a tomahawk
:roll:

[Beastmode88]

Will we ever see Derrick Rose again?

FTFY

[upside24]

James potential loss of athleticism could affect his scoring ability so for reference I will compare sub 45% games so far this year for LeBron and Jabari Parker.

LeBron's games under 45%: 10
Jabari's games under 45%: 9

LeBron's efficiency is one of his greatest attributes. Given I havn't watched all of his games and I know he is taking more threes than last year but this comparision between him and Jabari was an eye opener to me.

[LilEddyCurry]

This is the worst start to the season since his 2nd year. Sorry, but he has top be judged by his high standards.
He actually started worse in his first year in Miami. Where do you come up with this stuff? :facepalm