LeBron James

catfish said:

I am not sure a torn achilles has anything to do with minutes over a career. The article is nonsense. Still not sure, however, why James lost the weight and why he now appears to have gained back the muscle mass he has lost after making a trip to the PED capital of the US. Sounds a little fishy.

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He is still slimmer and for some odd reason I read somewhere and I think Mike Miller said it that most of the time players actually gain their weight back throughout the season.

IWantAKouki said:

The ASG is barely an exhibition game, I'm sure if injuries are nagging he will take it easy.

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I believe if a player is active for the game preceding the all-star break and no injury is confirmed he is required to participate in the ASG.

If that isn't the exact language of the rule, it's something close.

Binkster said:

3 years of college basketball is still playing basketball (albeit less games), I'm sure he was still playing in summer leagues, for Team USA, etc. He also pursued a full-time baseball career. 40 years old is 40 years old.

We are talking minutes, not style of play.

The fact of the matter is that these guys played more minutes and at a high level a decade after their 30th birthday. LeBron can't complain just yet.

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Don't forget that MJ retired twice. He had almost five odd years break. And, both the times after the three-peat. Now, comparing Malone with LeBron isn't ideal because you have to just look at their workload. Malone had the second greatest facilitator of all time in Stockton to provide him easy baskets. LeBron more often than not has to create shots for him and later be the de-facto point guard and bring others into the game. Malone never ran the floor like LeBron did. Malone was still one of the best big men along with Barkley in terms of running the floor but its not comparable to LeBron or any other wing players. Also, Malone never guarded opposition's best perimeter players. So, LeBron had to run around and chase more than Malone ever did.

Its not just about the toll it takes on you physically. It takes a lot on you mentally as well. Watch the NBA Open Court episode where Steve Kerr mentions that when people talk about how MJ could have won two more had he not retired, they don't consider how much it takes a toll on you. He describes how drained both physically and mentally the Chicago Bulls team were in 1997-98. LeBron has been to the NBA Finals in the last four years. Add that to the pressure and focus that is on him, which is more than any palyer in the history of NBA has had, its a genuine issue. I can't beleive you feel its something that shouldn't be concerning.

Damien O'Connel said:

I believe if a player is active for the game preceding the all-star break and no injury is confirmed he is required to participate in the ASG.

If that isn't the exact language of the rule, it's something close.

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And, The NBA as well as Adam Silver would ensure top players like LeBron, KD etc participate at all cost.

Binkster said:

3 years of college basketball is still playing basketball (albeit less games), I'm sure he was still playing in summer leagues, for Team USA, etc. He also pursued a full-time baseball career. 40 years old is 40 years old.

We are talking minutes, not style of play.

The fact of the matter is that these guys played more minutes and at a high level a decade after their 30th birthday. LeBron can't complain just yet.

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3 years of college basketball is A LOT less games: Jordan played about 100 games in his entire 3 years of college. That's essentially just one NBA season (regular plus playoffs) and that doesn't even take into account that NBA games are longer then college

That's a whole lot less minutes and playing baseball doesn't give you nearly the wear and tear of basketball. Throw in that Lebron has probably 50 lbs on Jordan and the comparison is moot

If I'm LeBron and the Cavs, I'm willing to entertain thoughts of him taking 10-12~ healthy games off a year when the schedules dictates it.. NEXT year. He already has 10 games off this year, and we have to continue to establish continuity and chemistry this season. I don't buy it for this year (intentional healthy scratches). No way.

Windehorst never answered question how an old Lebron James became the old Lebron James after sitting out for 2 weeks.

brownsbuck6 said:

If I'm LeBron and the Cavs, I'm willing to entertain thoughts of him taking 10-12~ healthy games off a year when the schedules dictates it.. NEXT year. He already has 10 games off this year, and we have to continue to establish continuity and chemistry this season. I don't buy it for this year (intentional healthy scratches). No way.

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Yeah he can't be sitting out 1/4th of the season every year for the rest of his career, that would be beyond absurd.

Windy just had to write a piece about the Cavs for ESPN and didn't know any other story to write about now that they are winning. Lebron just took off two weeks to recover and has missed 10 games already this season. Comparing him to Kobe and Duncan are different cases. Body types are different Duncan had a bad knee injury and looked done the year after he came back and then lost a lot of weight and came back and Pop started to monitor his minutes. Kobe has had several knee injuries etc prior to the past couple of years and is 35 or 36 while Duncan is 37. I can understand resting Lebron towards the end of the season if it doesn't affect our playoff seeding but resting him when he was just shut down for two weeks in the same month doesn't seem reasonable considering trades and chemistry.

The Red Viper said:

So, LeBron had to run around and chase more than Malone ever did.

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And Malone had to bang around in the paint for rebounds more than LeBron ever will. He also primarily lived in the post taking and delivering elbows, hard fouls, etc.

The Red Viper said:

I can't beleive you feel its something that shouldn't be concerning.

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You're missing the premise of my argument. It's absolutely something you need to be cognizant of, but not something that should scare you simply because Kobe Bryant has been oft-injured at an older age. To me, it's a non-issue right now for a guy who is naturally gifted in terms of physical makeup.

He's 30 years old. Windhorst implicating that the Cavs are mishandling the situation is a reach.

Pioneer10 said:

3 years of college basketball is A LOT less games: Jordan played about 100 games in his entire 3 years of college. That's essentially just one NBA season (regular plus playoffs) and that doesn't even take into account that NBA games are longer then college

That's a whole lot less minutes and playing baseball doesn't give you nearly the wear and tear of basketball. Throw in that Lebron has probably 50 lbs on Jordan and the comparison is moot

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We are also in an age where athletes are able to take advantage of specialized workouts, diets and medical advancements that were unavailable during Jordan's era. Jordan also suffered a serious basketball injury early in his career, whereas LeBron has been able to keep himself on the court, relatively intact.

I am not saying he will play until he is 40, but the adage that the minutes are starting to wear on him are being a bit exaggerated based on who he is. Of course it is a little and he may need to take a few games off here and there, but it's not like he's struggling to get up and down the floor right now. He's a physical specimen who could play for many, many more years at a high level if he continues to keep himself on the court.

That piece was a little overreaction by Windy... Kobe has a completely different body from LeBron, LeBron is much, much more stronger. I'm not saying it would be a bad idea for LeBron to take off back to backs every once in a while but for him to take weeks off at a time various time throughout the season is absurd. This guy is 30 and is looking like his MVP self since coming back. Windy should stick to reporting and news, not things like this.

I'm sorry, but you guys are all wrong. Windy is absolutely right.

Age catches up to everyone. Only young people think they will stay young forever. Stop being so naive.

Are you guys seriously just going to ignore the first part of the season? LeBron looked run down and old. The fact that he ONLY NOW looks better AFTER resting proves Windy's point. I swear, some of you need to work on your reading comprehension.

LeBron needs to systematically rest starting asap. It's just the truth.

Pioneer10 said:

Jordan played 3 years of college and took 2 whole seasons off. Lebron has played significantly more minutes then Jordan at their respective ages because of this.

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While true, LeBron may have the best genes of any pro basketball player ever.

To date, his injuries have been a sore back and a sore knee. Think about that.

Comparing him to Jordan or even Kobe, who has suffered MULTIPLE season ending injuries is just irresponsible.

Plus, Kobe played just as many minutes as LeBron and he went unimpeded until he hit 35. LeBron just turned 30.

There's no doubt they should be mindful of his minutes but trying to infer things about a player who has been 99.99% healthy, based on other players with different builds, is dumb to me. It's nothing more than a guess.

His play earlier in the year looked more like him just not giving a ****. This notion that 2 weeks off miraculously cured him seems a bit of a stretch to me. It seemed far more like a power play to make roster moves than it did for LeBron to do anything that was essential to him being healthy.

NoTitleTown said:

I'm sorry, but you guys are all wrong. Windy is absolutely right.

Age catches up to everyone. Only young people think they will stay young forever. Stop being so naive.

Are you guys seriously just going to ignore the first part of the season? LeBron looked run down and old. The fact that he ONLY NOW looks better AFTER resting proves Windy's point. I swear, some of you need to work on your reading comprehension.

LeBron needs to systematically rest starting asap. It's just the truth.

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Who is saying he'll be young forever? Bryant had played 37,519 total minutes at age 30 (1 fewer NBA season) and logged 5 more seasons at an All-Star level, all with 20+ PER.

Does he need to rest a bit more? Sure. Does he need to start being treated like 38 year old Tim Duncan? Absolutely not. Using even guys 10 years older would ignore how crazy fast sports medicine has advanced. The way athletes prepare and recover is just not the same as it was in previous generations.

Noone is saying the Cavs shouldn't be mindful of it but this is really what Windy is writing about after the Cavs best stretch of basketball of the season? When LeBron is playing 36 minutes a game since returning? And just 1 over 40 min?