The NBA season is a grueling challenge for even the most well-conditioned and dedicated basketball players. Within a couple of months, everyone’s body is aching, and serious fatigue, not to mention injuries, is simply a part of playing in the league.
LeBron James has had his share of injuries and problems with fatigue since joining the Los Angeles Lakers five seasons ago. But this season, he has remained relatively healthy while showing greater stamina, and he’s still playing at a high level. He’s averaging 25.4 points, 8.1 assists and 7.2 rebounds a game while shooting 53% from the field and 40.6% from 3-point range, even though he’s 39 years of age.
Max Christie, a guard in his second season from Michigan State University, has seen his playing time and production fluctuate this year. While on Lamar Odom’s “LADE Show,” he talked about how he has learned to take care of his body from the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
“I would say, the first thing that comes to mind, especially with Bron is his recovery process,” said Christie. “So, that’s the first thing I really wondered coming in, like dude’s been at it for 20-21 years now and he’s been so dominant every year. And so, I’m wondering how are you recovering so fast? How are you still at that, how is your body not breaking down, right? Just watching how he goes about that with ice and saunas and treatment and massage and so much stuff. I try to adapt as much of that as possible. I don’t really try to copy it, but I like to sort of mold it into my own process and my own routine. I would say the biggest thing I’ve learned just from observing everybody really is, you know everybody says the season is like a marathon, right? It’s a long season and I think when everybody says that they’re really talking about like the physical aspect of it. You know how your body is breaking down, all this travel and what not, but to me, I think the hardest part of being in the league is the mental side of the game. Obviously, on the court, you know playing the game within the game, but also off the court too. All the travel, a lot of the games you know, I feel like in my situation too, where you got to stay ready all the time. I think that’s one of the hardest thing that I’ve ever done, playing some games, not playing other games, not knowing when you’re going to play and it’s really difficult. It’s really tough and I think even this year now, last year I didn’t play at all post trade deadline. Now, I’ve carved a little bit more of a role and I’m still playing a little bit more, but it’s tough man. I mean there’s games where I don’t know if I’m playing, then there’s games where all of a sudden I’m playing 25 minutes.”
Whenever Christie has received significant playing time, he has shown promise. On Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers, he scored 11 points in 22 minutes while hitting two 3-pointers.
When he is hitting his outside shot, he’s a promising role player for Los Angeles, especially considering his defensive effort and willingness to hit the boards.