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Lakers News: LeBron James Acknowledges Adjustment To Declining Athleticism

Spending 20 seasons in the league will take a toll on any athlete

Ryan Menzie

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What Lakers forward LeBron James continues to do is truly amazing. James entered his 20th season in the league and is officially entering uncharted territory as he still continues to average over 25 points a game despite being one of the oldest players in the league.

Throughout his career, James was widely regarded as one of the greatest pure athletes to ever play sports and remained someone teams constantly feared when facing the superstar. Now, while his athleticism is still good enough to lock him onto an NBA team, for his own standards they have taken a steady decline.

This of course comes with the wear and tear of the NBA and being 38 years old. What James lacks in athleticism he has been able to make up with taking care of his body and working on his complete craft. 

James learns to find other ways to remain effective for the Lakers (via Spectrum SportsNet).

"I don't have to rely on super duper athleticism to be effective. My first 12 years of my career I was super duper athletic and I can not be as efficient and not be as dialed in on the actual game of basketball. I can go out and just figure things out. I'm also smart enough to know that in order to be the best player I can be I needed to grow my game. A lot of teams and coaches I played against helped me out a lot. I knew in order to be the best player I can be and be the greatest player of all time, I need no weakness."

James is no stranger to taking care of his body and if he wants to break the all-time scoring record he will continue preparing as he always has. Until then, hopefully James doesn't take any serious declines or some down with season altering injuries as the Lakers continue to find their traction. 

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Ryan Menzie
RYAN MENZIE

Ryan Menzie | Lead Contributor Ryan is an LA Native who has grown up praising the greatest athletes LA has had to offer. A love for sports ranging between basketball, football, volleyball and golf, a future Sports Management Masters graduate, and being engulfed into organized sports since seven years old, the passion and love for sports never ends for Ryan. If the words he writes don't paint the full picture of his true fandom, he will find more ways than one to tell the story and be more than willing to open up a nice LA sports debate with you. Favorite Player: Kobe Bryant  Favorite Moment: Kobe Bryant Final Game. Too many moments to choose from between Derek Fishers 0.4 second buzzer beater, the Lakers 3-peat or game seven against Boston, but can't beat a final memory like Kobe's final game. 

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