Something seems to be way off with Lebron physically

[Akrazotile]

This is a serious observation.

It's like his motor skills have gone haywire. His jumper is just abruptly broken after years of steady improvement. Since when do guys suddenly regress as jumpshooters at 31??

Also he can barely seem to dribble. He looks out of control on fastbreaks and often loses or nearly loses the ball. And he's just straight up falling down a lot. Im not talking about flopping, Im talking about just losing his footing while running and stumbling to the floor. It's bizarre.

I'm not saying he was ever a knock down shooter or extremely fluid in his movements, but this seemingly abrupt, drastic decline in basic motor function is not something you usually see from a 31 year old guy. The jumper doesnt even require athleticism, so it cant simply be about losing that. In all honesty, if this were happening to a 50 year old guy you'd wonder about early signs of ALS (Lou Gherig's disease). He's obviously too young for that but it's really strange. Makes me wonder if something is more wrong with his back than he's letting on. Athleticism doesnt just fall off this hard at 31. He's been one of the freakiest athletes ever and suddenly he can barely run and dribble a ball at the same time. Something is off and tbh Im worried about what it could be.

[Mr. Jabbar]

HGH abuse takes its toll

anyway, from his lack of post moves, poor footwork, and ugly shooting form we knew YEARS ago his aging wasnt gonna be good (there must be hundreds of posts to bump about it). It did come a bit early, tho..

[Jacks3]

Something is off with the OP mentally.

[Hizack]

(If you are talking about last night's game only)

It is normal for a guy playing 24 of 24 minutes in the second half to look like that.

[Nilocon165]

And mentally.

Oh wait, that's every game.

[SAKOTXA]

His jumper was looking great at the end of game 3, when they were up 20. His movements were fluid, everything was clicking. Why can't you just admit that the guy is a mental midget?

[Akrazotile]

Something is off with the OP mentally.



Something has been cut off of you reproductively.

[Akrazotile]

His jumper was looking great at the end of game 3, when they were up 20. His movements were fluid, everything was clicking. Why can't you just admit that the guy is a mental midget?


That was likely an aberration and just coincidence. Cleveland was one of the league's best teams this year and obviously had plenty of leads and low-pressure games, yet his jumpshooting percentage has been way down. The guy just doesnt seem to be right from a coordination standpoint.

[COnDEMnED]

I think he's just extremely shook and doesn't trust himself to make shots. He's refusing to shoot over Curry in the midrange. If you don't trust yourself enough to shoot over someone you're supposed to have an advantage over, I don't know how he was expecting to win. He needs to SHOOT THE BALL.

[DMAVS41]

His jumper was looking great at the end of game 3, when they were up 20. His movements were fluid, everything was clicking. Why can't you just admit that the guy is a mental midget?

I can't remember the specific play or time in the game, but there was a play last night where Lebron got an offensive rebound (I think off his own miss) like 4 ft from the basket wide open and the ****ing dude looked like he didn't know what the hell to do with the ball.

He is so clearly lacking confidence in every aspect of his game...

[Edgar Friendly]

https://pmchollywoodlife.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/lebron-james-rocks-very-tight-pants-ftr.jpg

[Akrazotile]

I think he's just extremely shook and doesn't trust himself to make shots. He's refusing to shoot over Curry in the midrange. If you don't trust yourself enough to shoot over someone you're supposed to have an advantage over, I don't know how he was expecting to win. He needs to SHOOT THE BALL.


He's also been completely unwilling to take guys like Thompson and Livingston into the post Ive noticed. Which is strange bc in the past he's take Paul George, Durant, Kawhi Leonard in the post. But he doesnt seem to trust his ability to do anything right now and he just keeps passing the ball away. When he does try to do stuff he is uncharacteristically stumbling and bumbling.

I feel like he needs to undergo a complete physical. Whether Cleveland wants to have their doctors do it, or the league's, I mean if they reached out to me and asked me to fly in for it I suppose that'd be a possibility, but SOMEONE needs to check Lebron out medically. Just to make sure there's nothing that needs immediate attention.

[bdreason]

I don't think he can go hard for 40+ minutes anymore. He's only 31, but has a ton of mileage, and he carries a lot of weight.

He also has a history of folding under pressure. I think he cares a little too much about what people think about him, and it adds to the pressure he feels in big moments. You could argue LeBron has had to deal with more pressure and expectations than any star athlete in the history of sports.

[Akrazotile]

I don't think he can go hard for 40+ minutes anymore. He's only 31, but has a ton of mileage, and he carries a lot of weight.

He also has a history of folding under pressure. I think he cares a little too much about what people think about him, and it adds to the pressure he feels in big moments. You could argue LeBron has had to deal with more pressure and expectations than any star athlete in the history of sports.


I do acknowledge he has been inconsistent under pressure (which virtually all greats have been, Lebron just lives in the social media age) but I really feel there is something conspicuously off with his basic athletic coordination. Maybe it is just age and mileage, I dunno, but it just seems very rare for a 31 year old guy to be this out of rhythm physically. He looks completely different than he did just 2 years ago.

[COnDEMnED]

Maybe he needs to slim down? Too much weight for his frame, for his age, at his mileage? Be not so bulky but maybe just lean muscle.

[Hardjelly]

He's physically crumbling from the pressure. He'll be at his best if Irving can go on a tear early and give Cleveland a big lead, otherwise we will witness another 5+ turn over game from Bron on Monday.

[Smoke117]

I don't think he can go hard for 40+ minutes anymore. He's only 31, but has a ton of mileage, and he carries a lot of weight.

This is the main problem I think right now...he's exhausted. He's by far played the most minutes of anybody at his age and hasn't had much rest having been to the finals 6 straight times. I'd also agree he carries way too much weight at this point in his career...I was watching highlights of Wade and Lebron from that 2009 game where Wade dunked it on Varejao and I couldn't stop thinking how fast and quick Lebron looked out there...and how much smaller. If he is going to stay at sf he needs to lose some weight for sure...look how much quicker and rejuvenated Wade looked dropping some bulk. Frankly, he needs to lose some of that weight anyway. He'll still be strong enough to play PF either way.

[knicksman]

More like only okc doesnt know how to defend him. Bran has always been like this. Only idiots cant see it. Theres a reason why this guy is ray allen away from being 1/6 and if okc knows how to defend him then 0/6

[impulze]

This is a serious observation.

It's like his motor skills have gone haywire. His jumper is just abruptly broken after years of steady improvement. Since when do guys suddenly regress as jumpshooters at 31??

Also he can barely seem to dribble. He looks out of control on fastbreaks and often loses or nearly loses the ball. And he's just straight up falling down a lot. Im not talking about flopping, Im talking about just losing his footing while running and stumbling to the floor. It's bizarre.

I'm not saying he was ever a knock down shooter or extremely fluid in his movements, but this seemingly abrupt, drastic decline in basic motor function is not something you usually see from a 31 year old guy. The jumper doesnt even require athleticism, so it cant simply be about losing that. In all honesty, if this were happening to a 50 year old guy you'd wonder about early signs of ALS (Lou Gherig's disease). He's obviously too young for that but it's really strange. Makes me wonder if something is more wrong with his back than he's letting on. Athleticism doesnt just fall off this hard at 31. He's been one of the freakiest athletes ever and suddenly he can barely run and dribble a ball at the same time. Something is off and tbh Im worried about what it could be.
His body looks as good as anyone could hope. I don't think something's physically wrong with LBJ. It's a mindset thing.

[SpecialQue]

https://66.media.tumblr.com/4e0941f2669ed7173ad078006604c747/tumblr_o8mqetgwDz1tfn6p6o1_500.jpg

[Mr. Jabbar]

https://66.media.tumblr.com/4e0941f2669ed7173ad078006604c747/tumblr_o8mqetgwDz1tfn6p6o1_500.jpg

:roll:

[Indian guy]

Him constantly slipping in this series was very odd, but besides that, there's nothing 'off' about him physically. He's 31, in his 13th season and has unprecedented mileage on his body for his age. Whatever he has lost can be explained by that. And he indeed has lost a significant amount compared to say....2010, but LeBron was still a damn fine athlete this season. Given his age and mileage, about as good as you can expect. That's why he had such a great season despite a broken jumper. And his decline in that skill actually started last season. His perimeter shooting was a lot worse last postseason than this one for instance. Reasons for his post-Miami decline? Who knows. Whatever it is, he clearly needs to dedicate the offseason to regain some semblance of respectability from the perimeter again. He will be 32 next season and will run into the same issues against any great defensive team that he has in these Finals. And anybody who read my posts on this board this season would've seen me constantly talk about what a humongous issue LeBron's inept jumper will be in the Finals against GS or SA. People will talk about him "folding" or "choking" or whatever, simply to take a cheapshot as opposed to an honest overview, but scoring wise, nothing has happened in these Finals that hasn't happened all season. Only difference being GS is a lot better than everybody else in the NBA, so your flaws are more likely to be exposed.

[zizozain]

https://66.media.tumblr.com/4e0941f2669ed7173ad078006604c747/tumblr_o8mqetgwDz1tfn6p6o1_500.jpg
:roll:

[SamuraiSWISH]

Mileage and minutes is overrated. All these guys log minutes and physical exertion on their body playing basketball before the arbitrary "NBA minutes", so it's all relative.

Age matters more in terms of athleticism, and the bodies response to stress and recovery.

In regards to op and his suggestions regarding LeBron's motor skills or lack there of. I noticed too ... besides his drop off a cliff jumper in the playoffs last year until now, more worrisome is what you mentioned, his in ability to perform basic dribbling at times. Losing or fumbling the ball on routine plays that have nothing to do with the defender. Dribbling motor skills has nothing to do with mileage.

He ultimately needs to decide one of two things going forward to adapt to the change in his body with age ... does he want to develop post skill and remain the same size but move to PF permanently. Or if he wants to continue to force the issue at SF, which he feels no longer built for, well then he needs to drop weight and work on his handle / jumper all over again.

[eliteballer]

NBA started testing for HGH last season..

[imdaman99]

Didn't he have a ridiculous alley oop dunk in game 3? I suppose he can turn it on for small parts of the game but people are right when they say he's got a lot of mileage on him.

His confidence is wavering right now, him and Kyrie are lacking confidence in their teammates, I believe I read them shooting 33 of the last 38 shots? That's iso ball, we've seen it all before how Golden State bears down and forces their opponents to play it and their defense revs up prepared for it.

Can get away with it against far inferior teams in the East. I think OKC would have beat them as well.

[Asukal]

It's a matter of confidence and lack of skill. Leflop is afraid to fail. :banana:

[regerer]

I agree completely and as a fan of greatness, it is really disheartening to watch.

[robby712]

He has lost a step and some bounce he had two years ago. But this does not explain his loss of basketball skills. He is very sloppy with his dribbling, his jumper is gone, and his post game also. Lebron in Miami had a good post game, would take anyone in the post and go for a fadeaway. He would shoot over almost any player that was smaller than him, he shot like 40% on 3's in 2013 or 2014. His finishing around the rim has also dropped, although I do believe he is getting hammered on some drives and they don't call it. But seriously, it's not like Iggy is a young rookie. Lebron is incapable of scroing against him, but they played each other dozens of times before this two years and it was not this way before. That's because LBJ had a lot of moves before,oves I haven't seen him do, like a drive and a reverse layup, a drive and then a jumpshot at the elbow, his fallaway of the wrong foot...I have.t seen him do that fallaway since the Heat days. I strongly believe his decline is caused by a drop in his training and his work ethic. He is home, with his old buddies, his buisness is there and I strongly believe he doesn't work on his game the same he did in Miami.

[Cali Syndicate]

Maybe he needs to slim down? Too much weight for his frame, for his age, at his mileage? Be not so bulky but maybe just lean muscle.

This is really what it comes down to. Dude is too heavy where its taxing to be constantly explosive.. 240 is the ideal weight for him.

[STATUTORY]

he was never a skilled player, those things that you are claiming is "gone" he never had to begin with. It was just masked by his supreme athleticism, hard to see how uncoordinated he was when he was barreling to the basket like a runningback

[AirFederer]

It's mostly mental. Dude is weak under pressure.

[BarberSchool]

NBA started testing for HGH last season..this plus age plus being a coward and mental midget.

He is falling apart and it's fun to watch. Because he never deserved the success he had. He is phony AF.

[3ball]

His jumper is just abruptly broken after years of steady improvement. Since when do guys suddenly regress as jumpshooters at 31??


^^^ That's wrong

Other than 2-3 seasons in Miami, Lebron has ALWAYS had a poor jumpshot - he missed more than 80% of his jumpshots in the 2007 and 2015 Finals.. He shot worse than 40% from midrange in 10 of 13 seasons (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=12389794&postcount=17) and his playoff 3-point percentage is only 31.8%.

Fortunately, good shooting isn't needed to be a top scorer in today's game - Lebron, Westbrook, Wade, Derozan and Butler ALL (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=12389778&postcount=41) have poor 3-point and midrange efficiency, yet they're still top scorers because today's spacing and hands-off defense allow good athletes easier access to the rim.

Jordan's athleticism would benefit the same way, except he had goat midrange shooting, even better than Curry's (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=12438405&postcount=31) - this which would give him a similarly massive advantage over non-shooters Lebron, Westbrick and company.