Aside from an Instagram Live appearance last week, we haven’t heard much from LeBron James about how he is holding up during the NBA’s current hiatus, which has no immediate end in sight. It’s easy to forget that only a few days before the NBA shut down, LeBron and the Lakers had just capped off their best weekend of the season, including a home win against the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks and their first win of the season against the L.A. Clippers. It appeared they were rounding into form and that they had a legitimate shot at catching the Bucks for the best record in the league. All of that has been paused, which created confusion for LeBron’s body.
Although James has been solid for much of the season, he trains his body to start peaking close to playoff time and we were only about a month from the postseason. That led to LeBron’s body not knowing how to react, which he told Allie Clifton, Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye of the Road Trippin’ Podcast from LeBron’s UNINTERRUPTED.
LeBron on Road Trippin podcast: "My body was like, 'Hey man, what the hell is going on? It's March 13th. You getting ready for the playoffs. Why are you shutting down right now?' I was right there turning the corner. I feel like I was rounding third base."
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) March 26, 2020
LeBron on the podcast: "The narrative that I don't like is now guys get so much rest. Or LeBron, he's 35, he has so many minutes on his body, now he gets rest. It's actually the opposite for me because my body, when we stopped playing was asking me what the hell are you doing."
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) March 26, 2020
LeBron has often pushed back on the notion that he should rest more often, noting that his body feels better when he does play. How he is feeling during this hiatus seems to support that theory, although many have always had their own ideas on how LeBron should maximize himself. However, it’s clear that LeBron and the rest of the NBA don’t have a very clear idea on how to proceed during a time where they’d usually be preparing for the playoffs.
Also, it will lead to more important questions about when the NBA is able to come back, how much time players will need to get back into form after being stuck in quarantine.
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