Everyone marvels at LeBron James being a freak of nature who can still perform incredible athletic feats on the court. We see him run up and down like he’s still 24 years old and get up for some nasty dunks that shouldn’t be possible for a man in his 20th season.
While all that is highly impressive, what also helps LeBron continue to dominate is his mind. His basketball IQ is arguably the highest in the league which means he is able to gain an edge before the play even happens. After putting up another masterclass in the form of a 48-point outing against the Houston Rockets, LeBron was asked about his ability to outthink opponents and when he realized he had that advantage.
(starts at 5:57 mark):
“I knew that at a very young age that I had the ability to read the game before the game was even being played or possessions or being able to read plays ahead of time. So, I’ve always had the ability for quite a long time even when I was a teenager so I always knew that any part of my game as far as athleticism will start to go down that I could still outthink a lot of my competition. And then as my athleticism goes down a little bit, I knew I could expand my game up.”
“Early on, it was a lot of just speed and just jumping and figuring it out and as you get smarter you say, ‘Okay well teams now know that they can kind of key in on these things so how can I make sure that I’m unguardable and I can always put myself in a position where I do what I want to do. not what the defense wants me to do.’ So, I’ve been able to continue to work on my craft and also still keep the mind in it of being able to see plays happen before they happen.”
We have seen so many super-athletic players in NBA history fade away very quickly because once they don’t have that advantage, they are unable to find ways to be effective on the court. LeBron’s mind has helped him out when his athleticism has slipped just that little bit and it will continue to be a big factor in his success moving forward.
LeBron James Expressed Frustration About Questionable Calls Against The Lakers
While this game against the Rockets went by without much controversy, the same cannot be said about the Lakers’ two previous games. They suffered defeats at the hands of the Mavericks and the 76ers with the games being marred by some questionable calls by the referees.
LeBron was asked last night about the officials and he expressed his frustration at them for not giving the Lakers the foul calls. The league put out its L2M report for the game against the Sixers, which stated that Russell Westbrook was not fouled on the final play by Joel Embiid, something that would not have sat well within the Lakers locker room.
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