[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

When people talk about lebron being one of the all-time greats the discussion usually goes to stats, championships, awards, etc. While those are all important, there is at least one measure where lebron is basically unrivaled. It might be the most amazing thing about his career and it’s often overlooked. Lebron could very well be the most durable superstar player ever. The guy simply does not get injured. With the prevalence of injuries being what it is in the modern nba, he has somehow managed to get through his entire 15 season career to this point without ever sustaining a serious injury. The most time he has ever missed was for a 2 week stretch in 2015 to rest a sore back, but even that was something he probably could’ve played through if he felt he needed to. He has never missed a playoff game. And your talking about someone who plays deep into the playoffs and logs heavy mins every season.

No matter how superhuman lebron seems, there has to be some luck involved here. The odds of playing that many mins over that many seasons with as punishing a style that lebron plays, would seem to suggest he will get injured at some point in his career. While I would never wish for it to happen, I would at least be interested to see how he would respond and adjust his game to a serious injury that caused him to miss an extended period of time. With lebron we might never know the answer to that question.

[properbreaksParticipant]

Yes it’s overlooked how he’s never been injured probably because he doesn’t have one of those consecutive played game streaks and he’ll take time off from playing on his own, but it is amazing how few injuries he’s had. I’m not a Lebron fan, but I’ve seen plenty of times when it looked like he badly turned his ankle…. He’ll be down, get up and then 2 minutes later it’s like it never happened.
He never really falls awkwardly to physical contact. It’s like he bounces off of it. You got to remember Kobe went a LOOOONG time before the injuries started occurring later in his career.

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

Kobe actually had a lot of injuries throughout his career, he just played through most of them. The Achilles was the killer but I remember him playing virtually a whole season with a separated shoulder and another with a broken finger on his shooting hand. I’m not sure anyone could play through injuries as well as Kobe, but there were some significant ones even he couldn’t play through and caused him to miss extended time.

[r377Participant]

 He has great genetics and is naturally strong.  He is still youngish but i wouldn’t be surprised if he slows down soon.

I wouldn’t say ever, check out karl malone and john stockton who both played till 40 in the tough 80’s and 90’s. Not today with the soft play and the whole friendship thing where everyone on court are friends and prob give each other rub and tugs after the game….

The mailman played virtually 40mins a night, stockton a bit less but still great effort for someone 160-170lbs !!

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/malonka01.html

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stockjo01.html

 

 

 

 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

Malone and Stockton were both ridiculously durable. Malone played 19 years and the only stint he had where he missed extended time was his final season with the lakers. Stockton missed about half the 97-98 season but besides that played in almost every game throughout his career.

Jordan only played 18 games in his second season with a broken foot, but besides that never really had another serious injury.

I know Kareem had to miss some time when he broke his hand after punching some guy in the face but I’m not sure if he had any other long stints on the disabled list in his career.

 

 

[The Scare Crow RisesParticipant]

It’s a controversial statement to make but all the signs have been there from the start

1. He looked like he was 30 when he was in HS and was built like a truck, Football players havent looked as strong IMO

2. His head size and lack of hairline is his early 20’s

3. The lack of injuries throughout his career and rock solid proof he hasnt Tested positive for HGH, Growth or Steroids in his 13 plus years in the NBA

He’s always looked like your classic doper, maybe I’ve been around too many friends who’ve juiced up and I’ve become a cynic, but he’s never looked 100% Legit to me…

Let the negs rain down on me If I sound crazy

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

[EndlessknightParticipant]

Greg Oden also looked 35 at 16. Was he a doper?

[The Scare Crow RisesParticipant]

The benefits of using HGH at a young age are pretty evident, there are millions of dollars in endorsements and shady side deals, anyone with a Brain can see that 99% of Professional Athletes take something to gain an edge on the rest of society, coupke that with personal trainers and world class facilities and Doctors and they have a leg up on the regular Joe…

Unless you’re a Team Doctor and can show me proof it didnt happen…Devil’s Advocate

 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 I hate to neg you on this one because I like the outside the box thinking but he defenitely isnt/wasnt doping. HGH would have made him injury prone and is not a method basketball players can successfully use. The steroids will build up the muscles but not the tendons and ligaments. The muscles would become too strong for the rest of the body to support. Guys like James and Westbrook have dedicated everything always been well documented gymrats with strict diets and training regiments.

 People on steroids also have bad attitude problems and are always snapping of control/being aggreessive. James has always been well mannered and collected mentally. James just doesnt match the profile other than being cut and his hairline.

 

[whiteflashParticipant]

 This is so full of bad information and shoddy bro-science I don’t even know where to begin.

[EndlessknightParticipant]

You’re confusing anabolic steroids and HGH.

[whiteflashParticipant]

 Exactly. HGH actually strengthens bones, cartilage, ligaments, etc… It can also cause acromegaly, which would explain his expanding head and MASSIVE underbite. Also, "roid rage" is a myth. I wish people who don’t know what they’re talking about would stop commenting on subjects they’re ignorant to. That’s how steroids got demonized in/by the media.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Fair enough. You dont need to be a jerk about it though. If you have the information just share it obviously I’m lacking it. Only one way to learn.

[whiteflashParticipant]

 My bad, bud. Wasn’t trying to single you out specifically, was using that in a global sense. I personally don’t talk about politics because I don’t know sh!t about ’em and would look like an a$$hole if I got involved. Not saying you did, but you get my point.

[whiteflashParticipant]

 It’s not controversial, it’s an honest observation if you know what you’re looking at. Ped’s are rampant in professional sports (including basketball), and James is the poster boy for ’em. Also, the league’s "testing" is a complete joke, and the NBA would NEVER let their Chosen One get into any kind of trouble like that.

[Kwame33Participant]

 I have to disagree with number 1. Go look at all the top football prospects of the last decade and nearly everyone of them looks old enough to have a child receive their diploma right along with them. It’s like they’re physically gifted or something…woah

[CynthiaParticipant]

The hairline argument is completely ridiculous. I went to school with a guy that started balding at 17, then I seen him several years later around 25 and he was almost entirely bald. This was a 100% clean kid, wouldn’t even smoke weed or cigs.

[Kwame33Participant]

 Furthermore, his head is hardly any bigger than it was in his younger years. You can find no talk about LeBron’s head size on the net other than here b/c it’s really a non-topic.

[dmo21Participant]

Did you even try looking before you made this comment? If you simply Google "Lebron head size hgh" or "Lebron hairline hgh" you can find many articles and discussions on these matters. So you’re just straight up wrong when you say you can’t find "no talk" on the subject.

[Kwame33Participant]

 I typed in “LeBron James head size” and you get results on his well talked about hairline, a head injury from where he bumped his head on a camera like three years ago, and how Roy Hibbert was once “in LeBron’s Head”.. Then you get some steroid talk; It was kind of hyperbolic and not meant to be literal but my whole point was that it’s a pretty obscure topic because it’s not worth a conversation. For reference if you type in “Barry bonds head size” you get purely results on his head as it relates to PED’s and nothing else.  LeBron’s an incredibly notable figure and the internet is an even incredibly bigger place, you could find talk of a rumored scat and foot fetish online if you looked hard enough.

[dmo21Participant]

Well you’re using that statement to sway your argument that it is a non-issue and that nobody talks about it. Even if you were trying to be hyperbolic, it’s still untrue. I literrally Googled "Lebron James head size" and 4 out of the first 5 links are about HGH.. So yes, people are talking about it..

FYI, I don’t believe or don’t believe that he uses HGH as I personally don’t have enough knowledge on the matter and don’t want to make ill informed statements.

 

  

[Kwame33Participant]

 I never meant it quite literally cause like I said it’s the internet and you can find anything. Hyperbole is rhetorical device not meant to be taken to a T. Yes there’s a handful of articles for a very specific search, but those articles are also mixed in with other obscure articles that date many years back and the most recent suggestion in the search is from 3 years ago. Also, if you get past the first page you just get results on things that happen to have LeBron James and Head in them or ads for his Fathead. Like I said, the internet is a tremendously large place so if that’s all the results you can get on it then it really isn’t a substantial topic and sure people are “talking” about it but not to where the topic even merits notice, which was my point all along. But since you want to be laughably strict about my usage of words, yes, you are technically right, there are places on the internet where it has been muttered. Happy? 

[Kwame33Participant]

 You also get some great rates on LeBron James’s fathead which I would have died to have like 10 years ago

[HitsterParticipant]

Greg Oden always looked as old as Bill Russell in the face when he was stll in his teens. Lots of jokes about it sadly Greg was about as durable as a 80 year old.

LBJ is ridiculously durable, he is only 400 odd career minutes behind Vince Carter who remains a very durable guy. Joe Johnson is another guy who has played nearly as many minutes as Vince too and up until this year his worse ever season was 57 games every other one was over 70 games (60 games in reduced 2011-12 season)

Dirk recently passed 50,000 career minutes and is 5th on All time minute list, only 40 behind 4th place Jason Kidd, so I’d say he’s been very durable too especially at his peak.

[treytalkssports.comParticipant]

 Kareem Abdul-Jabar is on the phone. He wants to say hi. 

[Robb_CParticipant]

LeBron and Wade were on HGH in Miami… its almost laughable to think otherwise.

[whiteflashParticipant]

 If you look at Wade at Marquette vs Wade now it’s like his face/head damn near doubled.

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 As for the lebron hgh theory, it’s easy to speculate but it has never been proven as far as we know. I remember a few years ago when he first came back to Cleveland he had a noticeably slimmer physique the first half of the season and appeared to have lost a step athletically. Then he took a sort of mysterious 2 week break in the middle of the season to rest a sore back (even though there was no real documented injury to it) and when he came back he appeared to be back to his normal self. Doesn’t necessarily mean he was off hgh and then got back on it but it at least raised some suspicion for me.

It does seem odd that he has retained so much of his athletic ability after playing so many years and mins and has never been seriously injured. But then again, he is an absolutely blessed physical specimen with an outstanding work ethic. I honestly have no idea if he’s on any banned substances, but if he is he is working extremely hard to cover it up. If it were ever made public, his legacy would be shot.

 

[whiteflashParticipant]

 Like I wrote earlier, the NBA’s testing is a joke, and there’s NO WAY they’d let James get caught or in trouble for something like that. James is an investment, and the league ALWAYS protects their investments . 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 What makes it a joke though? I dont doubt it just asking is this your opinion or a fact and what facts are there to prove it?

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