“I’ve Always Had a Mission”: How LeBron James Maintained Peak Performance
Slowly, LeBron James put on a pair of ice bath toe boots and dipped his left foot and then his right foot into a bucket that had been set out for him after a Lakers game at Crypto.com Arena. His longtime personal trainer and athletic performance coach, Mike Mancias, then wrapped both of James’ knees and back in ice.
James closed his eyes for a few seconds and leaned back in his chair as the media gathered around him for his postgame interview.
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This was just another step in the process of how James took care of his body, a step that shows how much time he puts into maintaining his body that has helped him have an illustrious 23-year career, longer than any player before him.
“Obviously I didn’t know it would be 23 years. I didn’t know, but I know I didn’t want to have a six- or seven-year career. I can’t become legendary in six or seven years,” James told the Times. “I always had a mission. When I knew I could play this game at a high level, like go to Chicago and play with M.J. [Michael Jordan] and all those kids when I was a sophomore [in high school]. And then when I went to Cleveland and played against the Cavs when I was a junior and I thought, “Oh… I belong.” I belong.” I knew I still had to learn and I had to keep getting my body right, keep learning the game and the nuances.
“But I played against NBA guys for a long time and I thought, ‘If I have an opportunity to win championships, if I have an opportunity to show what I can do, the only thing that can stop me is if I don’t take care of my body. The only thing that can stop me from being the greatest or one of the greatest to ever play this game is if I don’t take care of myself.’ I took care of my body. That’s all.”
James’ dedication to maintaining health has become legendary in the world of sports.
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Read more: LeBron James becomes oldest NBA player with a triple-double in Lakers victory
He is known to invest over $1.5 million per year for a comprehensive approach to keeping his body in shape.
He talked about the biohacking he uses to maintain elite performance and longevity at age 41.
He talked about using Normatec leg compression boots, hyperbaric chambers to restore oxygen, cryotherapy, red light therapy and any other cutting edge technology.
She talked about prioritizing sleep and nutrition, such as avoiding artificial sugars and fried foods.
When he missed the first 14 games of this season due to sciatica, James reduced his wine consumption, one of his passions, to get his body back to full health.
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“It obviously got even more detailed as Mike and I built a program,” James said. “It’s been 22 years of our program.”
LeBron James, left, jokes with coach Mike Mancias, right, while playing the Cavaliers in 2010 to rest up for the playoffs. (Mark Duncan/Associated Press)
Furthermore, it worked at the highest level for James.
First, he became the leading scorer in NBA history with 42,975 points.
Although his streak as an All-Star starter was broken at 21 straight, James still extended his league record to 22 when the coaches voted him to the Western Conference team as a reserve for Sunday’s game at the Intuit Dome.
Over time, James said, he received many offers to try different ways of doing his therapy.
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For the most part he said no.
“It’s all like this [crap] that is presented to you,” said James, smiling.[People] they always try to make you do it [crap]. But once we got the connection, there weren’t many people we allowed to participate in what we do. Obviously we had a couple of guys throughout the process who helped us along the way. But no, we knew what we wanted to do.
When James was a young boy growing up in Akron, Ohio, and it became obvious that he was athletic, he said his uncle, Curt James, encouraged him to immediately start taking care of his body.
His mother, Gloria James, supported him and advised James to listen to Uncle Curt.
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“I was probably 10, 11 years old,” James said. “I stretched before bed and when I woke up when I was 10 or 11. My uncle Curt, my mother’s younger brother, made me do 100 calf raises a day and made me do 50 push-ups and 50 sit-ups a day.”
James shook his head and laughed as he remembered those moments as a child.
Lakers forward LeBron James beats Kings forward DeMar DeRozan for a reverse dunk during a game in December at Crypto.com Arena. (Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
“He told me I needed to strengthen my calves if I wanted to be great,” James said, smiling at the thought of those conversations from years ago. “I never knew what it meant, whatever. But, yeah, my uncle told me to do it and then a good friend of mine always told me to stretch before I went to bed and after I got out of bed when I woke up the next morning. I don’t know, man. I’ve been doing it a long time.”
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At no point during all of this did James know what all that advice would mean in the future.
“No, but I had people I trusted,” James said. “I was icing after every game my rookie year. I was 18. I was icing after games when I was a senior in high school, in middle school. For example, I was lifting [weights] my senior year.”
James told a story about playing in an AAU tournament with Kendrick Perkins when he was 14 and how some of the players were sitting in the stands eating fast food.
But not James. Even then he ate well.
“They were eating McDonald’s,” James said, smiling, “and I was eating fruit.”
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Jason Kidd is the coach of the Dallas Mavericks, but he was an assistant coach with the Lakers when James led them to the 2020 NBA championship and the two of them were teammates on the 2008 U.S. Olympic basketball team that won the gold medal in Beijing.
Kidd has looked at how James is averaging 22.0 points per game on 50.2% shooting this season, 7.1 assists and 5.8 rebounds and can’t help but marvel at how James continues to be a highly effective player with so much mileage on his body.
“Physically, LeBron, he’s had some injuries, but he’s taken care of his body, he’s always prepared for the marathon,” Kidd said. “But I think it’s the mental side. I think the hardest part is waking up and saying, ‘Should I go play against a 20-year-old or a 19-year-old?’ He won championships, he was MVP, he was the face of the league. It’s a billion dollar company.
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“So it’s the mental side. Understanding that he loves the competition and he loves the game of basketball. So I think for him to do it at 41 is incredible.”
When the Lakers faced Kidd’s Mavericks on Thursday night, James returned to the lab early to prepare his body for the game and did so about six hours before the start of the game.
Lakers forward LeBron James talks with assistant coach Jason Kidd during a 2020 playoff game against the Trail Blazers in Orlando. (Associated press)
It didn’t matter that it was the last game before the week-long All-Star break.
In James’ eyes, if you take care of your body, it will take care of you, every moment.
“Like this morning for example. This morning I woke up, went straight downstairs, stretched out, did a little activation, like a little elevator [of weights]” James said after the game Thursday. “Then I got iced after that. Then I used the Normatec to pump my legs for an hour. Then I took a nap in the hyperbaric chamber for an hour and a half. Then I entered the cold tub again before coming here [to Crypto.com Arena]. So, I started my process here when I got here at 1:15 and got ready for the seven o’clock game. It’s all about the clock.”
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And as it turned out, all of his work led to another milestone for James.
His triple-double of 28 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds made James the oldest player in NBA history to accomplish that feat, pushing him past Karl Malone for the record.
And now comes another record All-Star Game appearance.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.