Are LeBron James and Tom Brady harbingers of the future of athletics where athletes into their 40s are still dominant?

[Saul Goodman]

Look at even Jeff Bezos right now, you don't think he's using the most cutting edge life extension, test boosting stuff right now? and he's not even an athlete. It's just a matter of time before this becomes common place with even the non super rich.

This is the body of someone with a personal chef and a personal trainer. Not having to think about the best possible nutrition or most efficient exercise for yourself makes things a lot easier.

Baffles me that they still can't figure out the hair loss ****.

I think the baldness adds to his supervillain persona hence why he rejects the secret treatments.

[azcatz11]

Golf is harder than NFL there’s no doubt about it.

They play top level. You just said hardest to be great at. Both are the greatest in their respective disciplines. Easy connection here.

No you’re wrong Golf is incredibly hard at any age and harder as you get older I mean really, like with everything rapid development happens when you’re young not old.

My basis is Brady has a very low threshold considering other great sportsmen in comparison. He isn’t Manny different sport, hasn’t clocked the mileage of LBJ/Fed, the difficulty level is lower than Woods.

Try learning a language now vs when your young. Same with sport, basically anything. It’s how the development works. Learning gets harder as time goes on not easier.

Dude Brady does walk around half the time and sits on the bench half the time that isn’t reduction that’s stating the obvious. It’s not to discredit him thats misconstrued I just call it how I see it.

What basis is the difficulty level lower than woods? Or fed? What on earth are you basing that off of other than talking out of your behind?

Woods it’s miracle he can still play let alone win a Masters in 2019. I just listed his golfing injuries which is a book onto itself.

Federer at 40 in the open era in tennis is much more difficult too.

Both play harder skill capped sports, have to start at a younger age and the difficulty level is harder to break through because it’s less pure athletic related and much more skill intensive. Have you seen Federer or Woods play? It’s more difficult than what Brady is doing. The nous is something else here entirely.

Skills take years and decades to master. Both started extremely young they all had to do it. When a sport is more slanted towards athleticism you can start later, skill on the other hand much much earlier, hence why something like gymnastics is extremely hard, peak very early and start extremely young because the threshold is higher.

Tennis peaks are at age 24-26

With golfing it’s always incredibly hard and Woods clocked it at age 20.

Say chess for example, comparing a peewee football star kid to a prodigious child chess prodigy is unfair. It would be like comparing a grade schooler playing basketball to literal Jordan. Extreme example but Brady can’t play by himself so to speak. In an individual game the practice involved for both would have already clocked 1,000 upon 1,000’s of hours of real learning before Brady even touched a football or started to really play which would be I’d say College and even then you can see the difference between College in the NBA. That’s the comparison here. Now they could start at the same age historically but Woods and Federer are doing serious serious stuff at a young age so by the time they are teenagers and into the 20’s the skill difference has to be there there is no choice but to be. The top 100 in Golf/Tennis would probably have 10 extra years of legitimate time honing it all just to make it to the top. From academies, coaches, etc etc. Do you know how difficult the weight is when your not even ten and for the next decade everything is and I mean everything is top class practice and training for the top 100. That’s what I mean by more difficult. Age 17 Nadal had the tennis community in raptures. It’s just a harder road to me. Imagine being 21-22 spending 15 years of your life and maybe being on the cusp of breaking through. It would heartbreaking. The stuff behind the scenes is crazy.

They are better sportsmen to me by a distance. Mileage even though there is an age difference isn’t actually close at all.

Check their listed injuries too.

I’m saying my basis is Brady has one of the lowest thresholds among other great sportsmen not too hard to figure out. Part of it is the nature of the game itself.

I actually read your entire post. Good post

[Marrrcuss]

Federer harder road than Brady. Most efficient sportsmen maybe ever? Certainly a sound statement, same with Woods for that matter.

Brady has a bionic arm and has seen every coverage thousands of times, plays one side, protected as the day is long and doesn’t move at all he’s not expending much energy overall. Honestly his threshold is very low amongst the greatest of all time imo.

If it was easy to do then he wouldn’t be the only guy in NFL history to do it. Peyton Manning’s probably the second best qb of all time and he was washed at 39. Tom Brady has thrown 190 touchdowns and won 3 rings since turning 39.

Tom Brady is the most disrespected athlete of all time. It’s ridiculous the hoops people go thru to discredit him

Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[HMFFL]

QB is a very specific position where you can play well into your 40s.

Similar to golf.

But I still don’t think we will ever see basketball players, running backs, wide receivers, etc. playing at a prime level in their 40s.

LeBron isn’t even 40 yet and he’s way below his peak.

The peak in basketball will always be around 25-33 until there are some crazy advancements in medicine maybe.

A QB can play in their 80's but that doesn't mean they will have success. Tom Brady is different. In the future more QB's will play into their 40's if they've had success because they can't be hit. Brady is currently experiencing that to some degree while Lebron's opponents don't even try to defend him unless it's in the playoffs.

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

[azcatz11]

If it was easy to do then he wouldn’t be the only guy in NFL history to do it. Peyton Manning’s probably the second best qb of all time and he was washed at 39. Tom Brady has thrown 190 touchdowns and won 3 rings since turning 39.

Tom Brady is the most disrespected athlete of all time. It’s ridiculous the hoops people go thru to discredit him

Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

I mean he is. There’s people who think he’s a system quarterback and somehow stacks the deck lol. He’s proven he can win in literally any circumstance. Sorry you hate greatness

[D.Brasco]

Look at even Jeff Bezos right now, you don't think he's using the most cutting edge life extension, test boosting stuff right now? and he's not even an athlete. It's just a matter of time before this becomes common place with even the non super rich.

Spoiler:

This is the body of someone with a personal chef and a personal trainer. Not having to think about the best possible nutrition or most efficient exercise for yourself makes things a lot easier.

Baffles me that they still can't figure out the hair loss ****.

They absolutely have, you just gotta invest in it.



Bezos is probably just a Vin Diesel fan or something

[Marrrcuss]

Tom Brady is the most disrespected athlete of all time. It’s ridiculous the hoops people go thru to discredit him

Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

I mean he is. There’s people who think he’s a system quarterback and somehow stacks the deck lol. He’s proven he can win in literally any circumstance. Sorry you hate greatness

He's probably the most complimented athlete alive next to Steph. For u to even say this is hilarious

[Balls Deep]

Why does Brady get compared to LeBron? The athletic demands of a QB ain’t comparable to an NBA player. I don’t care what anyone says, the likes of him and Peyton Manning are not elite athletes. Great players, but not top athletes.

[lakerz12]

QB is a very specific position where you can play well into your 40s.

Similar to golf.

But I still don’t think we will ever see basketball players, running backs, wide receivers, etc. playing at a prime level in their 40s.

LeBron isn’t even 40 yet and he’s way below his peak.

The peak in basketball will always be around 25-33 until there are some crazy advancements in medicine maybe.

A QB can play in their 80's but that doesn't mean they will have success. Tom Brady is different. In the future more QB's will play into their 40's if they've had success because they can't be hit. Brady is currently experiencing that to some degree while Lebron's opponents don't even try to defend him unless it's in the playoffs.

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

Just saying the QB position is not an accurate representation of athletes as a whole.

I’m responding to the thread title that uses “athleticism” and “athletes”.

QB is a unique position that actually doesn’t require a lot of raw athleticism.

Other QB’s have had success in their 40s: Brett Favre, Drew Brees, Doug Flutie, Warren Moon, Vinny Testaverde, and more.

If we are going to have a discussion about the future of athleticism and longevity, it shouldn’t be based on just 2 players (1 of whom is a QB).

[kingr]

Nope. For Lebron, you can tell age has caught up to him. He's just a once a generation type player , so he can still play at a high level at an older age.

[Fundamentals21]

Three seasons is a long time. What's the guarantee that LeBron's body won't break down with injuries?

[Johnny Bball]

Historically in a lot of pro sport as soon as a player turned 30 it was a countdown to when they were out of the league or their sport. With the advances in sports science, medicine, knowledge of nutrition could Tom Brady and LeBron James and what they are doing in their late 30s and early 40s be less like outliers and more typical?

Also I don't mean their specific level of achievements will ever be typical but being at that age and not being at most a bench warmer but still being a focal point.

Was Gordie Howe a harbinger that athletes can all play into their 50s, 50 years ago?

[picko]

LeBron and Brady are clearly outliers within their respective sports.

That said, we've seen basketball players perform at an exceedingly high level in their late 30s. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone being the two clear examples, Jordan another one had he not retired the second time.

In the NFL, it's been extremely common for QBs to play into their late 30s or early 40s. Brady is an outlier within that group but we've also seen a shift in the rules that has favoured greater longevity among QBs. The NFL has also seen a range of kickers player into their mid-to-late 40s.

In tennis, Federer and Serena remained relevant a lot longer than we might have expected. Nadal and Joker too. But earlier generations had Ken Rosewall who was older than Federer and Serena when he won his final grand slam and made a semi-final at the age of 42.

In cricket we've seen a range of test cricketers playing into the 40s or even 50s at international level over the past century.

In athletics, we've had Merlene Ottey who remained an elite sprinter well into her 40s.

In the AFL, Dustin Fletcher played until he turned 40 - which I doubt we ever seen again - yet players have made it to 37 or 38 quite regularly over the past century.

I'm far from convinced that greater professionalism leads to athletes performing at an elite level longer. At any given time there will also be an athlete or a few athletes who defy the broader trend. That was true a hundred years ago, it was true 20-years ago and it will be true 20-years from now. So don't expect to see a heap of 38-year old basketballers dominating the NBA any time soon.

[dlts20]

I mean it's not really new or special to me. It's been a natural, gradual climb in pretty much all of pro sports and life in general.

[theforumblue]

lebron and brady are known for having been fanatical about maintaining their bodies for a very long time now. i think that plays a huge role. genetics and luck too obviously, but they've taken care of their bodies and know their bodies very well.

it's kinda nuts because in a lot of ways it feels like there are more severe injuries nowadays than in the past. things like achilles heel and acl injuries seem more common nowadays, even if the medicine nowadays allow athletes to come back from those. and then there are these two dudes.

Absolutely, they spend a million plus a year I believe on their health and maintenance but I'm thinking instead of that making them outliers it will become more common for all athletes especially as those measures come down in price.

Hyperbaric chambers used to cost hundreds of thousands, now they're not cheap but price has come down significantly.

more than anything it's the mentality and discipline though. i'm sure plenty of top tier athletes are doing what they can to take care of their bodies but not to the extent that LBJ and Brady do in terms of discipline. i think the dudes that fall off the cliff are ones that's been lacking on that front. they can't adjust their game based on their changing bodies because they aren't attuned to it. and then dudes like zion who couldn't give a damn.

[Tottery]

Brady is "dominant" ?

Is LeBron when you look at the team record?

The opposite and yes name a more dominant NFL player in history at remotely Brady's age?

Reggie White or Lawrence Taylor ?

Or do they have to be QBs? lol

White didn't play into his 40's. In fact, he retired a season and came back a shell of his former self. Still, one of the greatest defensive linemen to ever play.

[Ballerhogger]

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[vxmike]

No, LeBron is a genetic freak but you get them every generation. KAJ, Karl Malone, LeBron….all genetic freaks that defied the average laws of aging and were relatively impervious to injury.

Brady plays a position more conducive to less athleticism as long as his arm holds up. You’ll never see a 40 y/o RB or WB dominating like him.

[Tottery]

When you get accused of being on PEDs with nothing to support it but looking at you and your play, it speaks for itself.

If you're a pro athlete, there's a 90% change you're on PED's...come on dude. This idea these guys aren't using stuff is down right comical. Hell 20% of my dang high school football team was using something...

I think PED use at the pro level needs to be destigmatized especially when I do believe most are on it and that relates to the sports science aspect. I'm not pro PED use at all for minors though, kids should at least attempt to reach their natural limits first.

Look at even Jeff Bezos right now, you don't think he's using the most cutting edge life extension, test boosting stuff right now? and he's not even an athlete. It's just a matter of time before this becomes common place with even the non super rich.

I don't get it. He looks like an old dude that drinks beers. Is it the vein in his arm?

[thebigbird]

If you're a pro athlete, there's a 90% change you're on PED's...come on dude. This idea these guys aren't using stuff is down right comical. Hell 20% of my dang high school football team was using something...

I think PED use at the pro level needs to be destigmatized especially when I do believe most are on it and that relates to the sports science aspect. I'm not pro PED use at all for minors though, kids should at least attempt to reach their natural limits first.

Look at even Jeff Bezos right now, you don't think he's using the most cutting edge life extension, test boosting stuff right now? and he's not even an athlete. It's just a matter of time before this becomes common place with even the non super rich.

I don't get it. He looks like an old dude that drinks beers. Is it the vein in his arm?

That’s definitely not what he looks like lol. Also, look at what he looked like a couple decades ago compared to now..