Lebrons athletic ability is over blown.

[kodo]

Because that's never been done to two defenders before by a 6' 10" guy...especially not two Hall of Fame defenders like MJ & Scottie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_pXzSh0DEo

[JWiLL02]

Yeah, I'm not sure how Kemp has received little recognition in this thread. At his peak he was unbelieveable. That level of explosiveness and body control at his size was unheard of, until Blake Griffin of course!

I still think one factor of athleticism that LeBron doesn't possess, that some of the other greatest athletes ever have (eg. MJ, Vince Carter, Rose), is that precise in air body control. His speed and quickness at that size is incredible, but you don't see the ability to make those same in air adjustments.

That's not to say he's not capable of great finishes at the basket that aren't power dunks, since I'm sure someone would counter with that, but I've always valued that elite in air body control very high on the list of athletic skills in the NBA, being that so few players possess it.

It's one of the reasons that DeMar DeRozan appears to be such a spectacular athlete, despite not having the same peak vertical jump many others do.

[Joseph17]

It's much more evident in combat sports but the more muscles you add the more oxygen is required to make those muscles function so while someone can have (hypothetically if they train correctly) faster more explosive reflexes and increased strength endurance (or even just plain creating the appearance of increased athleticism), it comes at a price where it detracts from their overall conditioning but not so much that they have the conditioning of a fat person.

This is what I don't understand though. If more muscles require more oxygen and muscles weigh more than fat I don't see why fat would have more of a negative effect on conditioning than muscle would.

[Joseph17]

Lebron is one of the top 5 most gifted athletes to ever play the game if anything his athleticism is underrated.

Lebron is clearly more of an athletic freak than someone such as Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant.

end of story

I saw Shandon Anderson do a dunk like that when he was on the Knicks. As we all know, Shandon Anderson wasn't an elite athlete during his time with NY. Really not that impressive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHRzfvOPwiI

[Hon-essim]

It's much more evident in combat sports but the more muscles you add the more oxygen is required to make those muscles function so while someone can have (hypothetically if they train correctly) faster more explosive reflexes and increased strength endurance (or even just plain creating the appearance of increased athleticism), it comes at a price where it detracts from their overall conditioning but not so much that they have the conditioning of a fat person.

This is what I don't understand though. If more muscles require more oxygen and muscles weigh more than fat I don't see why fat would have more of a negative effect on conditioning than muscle would.

It's like I said before. For a fat athlete to get to that point where even casual people would consider them fat means they have been vastly under-training. It's of course not set in stone as there are fat looking and even plain fat athletes that have more conditioning and heart than better looking more ripped athletes but that often falls into what their diets are and what their purposes are for getting fat.

Either way it means their conditioning is going to take a hit from their normal performance. Then again, I'm not saying he has gotten fat. I said if Lebron is fat he should be more winded but of course you can also be weighed down by muscles. It really depends on what the true explanation is for him declining and not being able to elevate his game in the most important stage of the professional basketball.

To me a single explanation just seems to be lacking in any evidence. If it's mental why does he look alright off the court and making jokes with Wade unlike Pau. If it's added muscles, why does he seem to have less explosion even in the beginning of the season. If it's fat, he does seem like he is needing more just to get up in the air but how can he still perform at an overall pace without looking winded at all except when he is slashing to the basket for a dunk or trying for a block. If it's fatigue, how come even on defense he is so passive? If it's injuries, then what type of injury does that to an athlete?

As far as air body control, that's not really pure athletic ability. It's like saying Dr. J has poorer athletic ability because he didn't try to move his legs like Jordan did during a dunk or Blake Griffin is more athletic than Javale McGee from the fact that his Slam Dunk contest Dunks look visually prettier to a point instead of how much activity Griffin does without breaking down during the regular season + heavy ASW and how he is able to out muscle most of his competition when even McGee is more of a big man high leaper than an overall power athlete.

[Joseph17]

It's like I said before. For a fat athlete to get to that point where even casual people would consider them fat means they have been vastly under-training.

Or severely overeating.

[G-Heel]

I think his strength is the only thing that get overrated. He is really strong for a SF, but he's as big as most PF and he isn't as strong as them. He bulldozes people when he runs through the lane because of his speed carrying the momentum of his body. I keep seeing people say he's super strong and his dunks are so powerful, blah blah, but he is not. Maybe it is his style of play, I just don't see the strength when he guards PFs or being guarded by PFs.

[Hon-essim]

It's like I said before. For a fat athlete to get to that point where even casual people would consider them fat means they have been vastly under-training.

Or severely overeating.

Athletes over-eat relative to normal people all the time though. That's not even factoring the parties.