Original subtitles

By the way, it's the start of my second today.

-I gotta prepare -You know why,

-we're goin' straight jugs-- -I saw those glasses,

those did tempt me.

Whatchu got, what did you bring? What did you bring?

We, under a strict show budget...

I don't remember what it was.

If you want it, we can bring it.

Tell 'em to bring 'em down, lemme look at it.

-Alright. -Just in case.

If somebody just have a little sip or even just had a glass here,

aesthetically, it looks great on camera.

-We wanna keep it, you know- -Classy, elevated.

-Keep it elevated. -Sophisticated.

[bluesy theme music]

[music fading]

Welcome back to another episode of Mind The Game.

In this episode, I got to nerd out a little bit.

Maybe it's a episode that means more to me than most people out there,

but I think it's really fascinating for fans

and even fans who played in the league

to understand what it takes to survive, to find consistency,

to be prepared to play, to avoid injury,

to be able to go out there every night and do your job.

And so in this episode, I really dug in on LeBron's preparation,

how he takes care of his body, the sports science behind it,

what his recovery is like, his diet.

Many different things that allow him to find that

level night after night, but also year after year.

This is year 22 for LeBron James, and that's an outrageous accomplishment

to play and to be able to play at this level.

Still dunkin' on younger players, still running the floor,

still able to play at an extremely high level,

an efficient level.

And much of that

is due to the way he handles his preparation and recovery.

This guy is very diligent and religious

about the way he takes care of his body and his mind.

And I think you'll be fascinated, as I was,

to get a little deeper, and understand the methodology

and the routines and the habits that he's built over these 22 years.

[bluesy theme music]

[Steve] You know, one thing that I gotta ask,

and it leads into a longer conversation that fascinates me,

is like, how do you feel?

Like really, how do you feel, like, do you feel great?

Do you feel like, "I feel great for my age,"

do you feel, "I feel great for this stage of my career,"

-or are you just like, "I feel great"? -Um...

I have my moments.

-Before-- -So that's good,

-you're human. -Yeah, yeah.

I have my moments.

But I would say, for where I am in my career,

the years I've played, the miles I've played,

the minutes I've played, the games I've played,

I feel great. I feel great.

And obviously, you have months where some months are better than others,

dependin' on the schedule.

After games, dependin' on the workhorse of the game,

you know, you like, "Oh, shit."

But it's usually the morning after the game,

it's that first step out of bed

will let you know how old your ass is. [laughing]

-[Steve] Yup, yup. -And those are the moments I'd be like,

"LeBron, what the hell?" And it's usually on the road too.

-Right, yeah. -It's usually on the road,

you're like, "What the hell are you still doin' here?

-Why are you out here still?" -Yeah, yeah.

And where do you feel it,

like, is it a slight inflammation, tired legs, back--

-Yeah, back, ankles. -Yeah.

You know, no one wants to hear this,

but I play soccer a little bit, and I played, the other night,

a bunch of guys that are like 25 to 30, or 30s.

Like I wake up the next day, I feel like I was in a car crash.

That's the only way I can explain it.

Like, I don't know how you are still dunking on cats,

like running out ahead of everybody.

I don't know either. I don't know.

Do you have nights, like this happened to me a lot

and you have to learn to deal with it and get it done anyways,

where you just feel like heavy legs, like--

Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.

Absolutely, or, you know, you wake up

and you're headed to the arena, and you're like-

-Yeah, "I don't know." -"It's not gonna be the night."

Yeah, "I don't know if I can do it tonight."

I had that feeling right after the break

and we shit the bed verse Charlotte right after the break.

Back-to-back, in Portland.

We didn't get to our hotel until 3:00 in the morning,

and we had a back-to-back verse Portland.

They had won nine of their last 11,

and I think the two games they lost to was verse Denver.

I think they was 11 and two over their last 13,

so they had been playin' good ball.

-Chauncey had 'em playin' great ball. -Great ball.

And you know, I woke up to get treatment at like 11:00.

You know, I didn't go to sleep 'til 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning.

So I set my alarm for 10:30, I was like, "Okay"--

Is that always hard for you, get off a flight, get to the room?

Yeah, even at home.

It's always hard to sleep the night after a game.

So do you ever go on the road after a game,

you fall asleep that last 10 minutes of the flight,

and you can't fall asleep for like three, four hours?

It just killed me on the way back from Denver.

-I hate that. -It was the worst.

Trying to stay up, holdin' my eyes--

It killed me on the way back from Denver.

-Oh, man. -You know, so we in Portland,

and I get my rehab, my treatment.

I was like, "Okay, I have to get my body movin',"

you know, "I can't wait 'til 7:00 at night,

I gotta get my body movin'." I get to treatment and rehab, I get in,

and I get done around like 12:30, 1:00.

And usually, I catch the first bus,

which is usually three and a half hours before the game.

So a 7:00 game is like a 3:30 bus.

I gotta hear about that later,

the thought on that, but go on, keep goin'.

I get into bed at 1:00, I set my alarm for 2:30.

It goes off, my body basically says

"There's no way you get outta his bed yet."

So I reset my clock again for the next bus,

it's supposed to be at 4:00.

Body again.

Long story short, I end up catchin' the last bus, at 5:00.

Like, my body would not let me get outta bed,

I needed to rest 'til 4:00.

At like 4:15, I finally got outta the bed,

caught the 5:00 bus.

Didn't shoot pre-game.

I got in, did some stretchin',

you know, did a little activation in the locker room,

got ready to play.

And I was like, "Tonight ain't gonna be the night,"

and I scored 40.

Yeah. But, you've been there before.

You've been there before, you don't panic.

-I didn't panic. -You don't quit.

You're like, "It might not be the night, let me adapt."

-"But lemme see." -Before you know it-

The crowd and the motor gets goin'.

You know, I always say, I'm like a 1965 Chevy Caprice,

I just needed a little time on the highway--

-Time to rev it up. -To rev it up,

get the smoke outta the engine. And then I was ready to go.

But it's interesting 'cause I think like the common fan,

and even maybe a lotta players,

nowadays, we have all the bells and whistles for recovery.

-For sure. -Massage, compression, hot colds.

[LeBron] Hot cold, yeah.

-[both] Hyperbaric. -Yup.

95% of your recovery, 99% is sleep.

-It's sleep. -It's by far the greatest thing.

I said it after the game, they asked me how,

I said I just slept as much as I could.

Yeah, that's it. And that's the thing,

like, that's gotta be a habit if you wanna be successful-

-For sure. -If you wanna prevent injury.

You wanna be able to say, "I don't have it tonight,

but I'll give myself a chance," and get 40, right?

And see what happens.

But that's a part of the discipline, is sleeping and staying...

'Cause a lotta times, you know, like we travel.

This is for the fans, right, the travel. You get in and out,

late nights, planes, different cities, time zones,

the cumulative effect of the season.

-Not complainin', it's amazing. -[LeBron] For sure.

But like, your clock is a mess.

Like I wasn't a great sleeper, so I had to nap like every day,

like really for the days when I wasn't gonna sleep, right,

and it's cumulative sleep. Like you have a bank account

is the way sleep works.

-Absolutely. -Right?

So like, if you're tryna get eight to nine a day,

sometimes you're gonna get five or six

and how are you gonna make up the deficit, right?

So the napping, the discipline to go to bed early,

all those things are so important.

No, my wife literally, she's the best ever,

she gets mad at me when it's time for me to go to bed,

that's how much I love sleep and takin' care of my body.

Like, at about 9:00 at night I'm like, "Ooh, what time you goin' to bed?"

-She's like, "You goin' to sleep?" -I'm like, "I am goin' to bed."

Do you like preempt it with like,

"Hey, you wanna hang a little tonight?

Because if you wanna get dinner or have a glass of wine,

-we better do it at like 5:30 or 6:00." -[LeBron laughing]

-That's my household too. -Yeah, absolutely.

But I'm interested in how you've done this throughout the years,

and so maybe I was thinkin' we could start with how the calendar looks for you.

So like, if you don't mind, the season ends.

-Mm-hmm. -Let's start now, it's a new season.

So that's our January one as basketball players, in a way,

is when the season ends.

How is your approach to the off-season, in those first three, four weeks?

Yeah, those first three or four weeks is literally,

I try to get away from actually me playin' basketball.

Am I away from the game? Absolutely not.

Either I'm watchin' the game, or I'm in the gym with my boys

watchin' them prepare and play in tournaments or whatever the case may be.

But me personally, I try to give myself, especially at this point in my career,

an opportunity for all the little nicks and crannies

and bruises, whatever, to give itself to recover.

And obviously, I've learned over the years

that me recoverin' at 40 is different in off-season than me recoverin' at 25.

-Mm-hmm. -[LeBron] You just don't recover as fast.

-Right. -So,

I try to take a month, maybe a month and a half off

from like really grindin' on the basketball court.

But what I am doin',

you know, I'm doin' yoga, and Pilates, and stretching,

and massaging, and cupping,

and all those things that try to help rejuvenate my body

-to when it's time when-- -Without wear and tear

-taxing- -Without no wear and tear.

You know, if I'm running,

tryin' to run in one of the Ultra G treadmill, where you can--

-Yeah, lessen the load. -You can lessen the load.

Or doin' more pool workouts,

where you lessen the load on your limbs and joints

and things of that nature.

So that's what kinda my first six to eight weeks look like

after the season.

'Cause I'm still travelin' with the kids and with the family,

so obviously that's inflammation, anytime you get up in the air.

But, you know, I'm able to kinda take care of my body then

for those first six to eight weeks.

But I think it's an important point, and, like, I think you'll agree, like,

I didn't believe in taking much time off.

Especially as you get older.

When you get older, you stop moving, you might not get it back, right?

So, like, continuing to do, like, the bits and bobs,

and having the regenerative effect, but still moving the body, synovial fluid,

-like, blood flow... -No, you're right,

because if you completely just shut down,

like, and do nothing, then you won't do nothing.

You won't do nothing, you start getting comfortable with it,

you're like, "I don't like this feeling, but..."

You know?

It's like the principle that the body's an adaptive system,

so we do what we teach it, right?

So if you run, you become someone that can just...

run, if you sit on the couch and do nothing,

you're someone that's adapted now to doing nothing,

so when you ask yourself to do something,

Like, "This is dangerous," for what we're trying to do,

you get out on the court and things fall off,

-It's really important to, like... -For sure.

It's like almost active recovery, movement,

so I'm interested that you felt that way too,

but then, the mental side too, right?

Like getting a little bit of space from the game, the grind, right?

So that when you do four, six, seven weeks into the summer,

get back at it, you're like, there's a little spark and excitement.

Make you miss it, yeah, and that's what you...

I think, once you get to those, you know, plus-15 years

in the NBA, you're always trying to find,

you know, the little moments of inspiration,

you know, it could be from anything,

it could be just the inspiration for the miss of the love of the game,

you've taken time away from it, and now, I miss it, I wanna get back to it,

it could be inspiration from your kids, hangin' out with your kids,

no matter what sport they're playing,

it could be basketball, soccer, it could be...

Whatever they're playing, you're seeing the competitive juices,

so you're like, "Okay, now, I miss it,"

or it could just be, now, it's time to click back in,

you know, because you still feel like you still have more time.

You still feel like, "I have more to give."

And you wanna be sharp.

Usually, the season doesn't end in a championship,

so you have motivation from failure, you wanna be more prepared,

so, like, giving yourself that space,

it revs up that motivation, which is huge, right?

Like, you know, it's a little bit

a part, I'm sure, of your journey is, like...

You know, I try to tell this to young players,

but, like, a coach could give us a workout,

"Here's what I want you guys to do,"

and you and I doing it can be totally different.

I did it, but, like, you attacked it, right?

Like, you went after it, like, so the approach,

the habits that you have for how you work is so important,

and sometimes, you need a little bit of space to say,

"I'm ready now, I got the spark."

"My habits are coming back, that I..."

"Every day, I'm competing in everything I do,

whether it's the gym, it's mobility, stability,

activation, recovery, like, I can skip the..."

No, no, no, that's not me, I'm gonna do the...

Every little step.

Yep, and I think the best thing about it

is, like, when it becomes just a way of life,

and it is not even about because you're an athlete,

it's because it's a part of your life, you know?

You want...

You may not all the time, you know,

I know when I'm done playing basketball, I won't be going to the gym every day

working on my game anymore,

but as far as training and still doing things for my body,

active recovery, mentally...

Recovering mentally, you know, grounding, you know, things that I'ma still do,

all the stuff that I've done besides the basketball portion,

when it comes to my lifestyle, will not change,

you know, I fell in love with the hyperbaric chamber,

the hot and cold tub, the plunges, the massages, the...

Everything, the grounding,

just going out and sitting in the grass and just...

You know, just literally just letting go, you know, and all of that stuff,

so those things are a part of life now, and when you're able to incorporate

the active life skills into...

Now into a profession as well, it unlocks a lot.

[Steve] Yeah, for sure.

And sleeping, like you said, is important.

They say in the habit sciences, like,

a part of forming a habit is identifying with it,

so like, you now identify with this lifestyle,

you identify with every spoke in the wheel of success, right?

I'm a little bit like you in that I can't sit still,

my career is long gone now,

I've been out of the game for ten, 11 years,

I can't sit still...

You've been out how long?

Forty when I retired, so yeah, I just turned 51, so...

-Are you kidding? -Coming up on...

I think it's 14, so yeah, but the 11 years...

My last game was March of '14, Staples,

-so yeah, 11 games. -Oh, my goodness.

It does not seem that long.

It feels that long to me. [laughs]

-Now, I feel old as shit. -[laughing]

No, you're the young man dunking on people, so...

Now, I feel so old,

it's been 10-plus years since you played, that's not...

- I know. Time flies. -[LeBron] Wow, time flies.

My daughters are in college...

You look great, man, you said 51, freak.

-Well, let's cheers to that because... -Yeah, cheers, man.

I get glimpses of myself in the mirror and I'm like... [exclaims in dismay]

Oh, fuck no, man, you look fucking great.

51? I would've never guessed that.

-Thank you. -[bluesy theme music]

Okay, so then, you get back in the gym, right?

That part of the summer where it's like, "Hey, I gotta get my game sharp,"

are you at the place still where you still add,

or are you just like, "Get sharp again, get sharp again?"

I'm at a place where

it's more just sharpening everything, you know, I have...

You know, I...

Yeah, I'm not in add mode, you know?

I feel like I've gotten to a point

where what I bring to the game...

You're comfortable with the fact that it's easier. [laughs]

I'm comfortable with the foundation of my game,

but it's all about sharpness...

if there was one summer where I felt like I didn't shoot the ball well,

either in catch-and-shoot,

then I spend a lot of time in catch-and-shoot,

if it was a point in time where I feel like... my post-game and...

Wasn't as efficient I wanted to be, then I'd do that,

if it was a point in time where I feel like my ball-handling wasn't as good

as I would like for it to be,

I'm never gonna be Steve Nash or Kyrie Irving

when it comes to ball-handling, but I can be myself,

then I work on that a little bit more,

so it is just about sharpening, the foundation in my game at this point.

But I bet you add experiences, right?

Like, where you're like,

"This situation, maybe I should try something else."

Does that process happen for you?

Postseason summer, like,

"Next year, I need to exploit this situation

in either a different way, or exploit it more

instead of giving this one away, I can double down."

You know what? It comes from, where's the game going?

You know, I've been in a league, and obviously, like you said, you know,

you said your last game was in 2014,

so that mean I was with you for 11 years competing,

or, you know, whatever the case may be, either in multiple uniforms you're in,

I was in multiple uniforms, but I've seen the game,

when I came into the League, it was the two bigs, it was a...

Pretty much one guy would handle the ball,

and then, you had your two wings, you know,

and probably up until about,

you know, I guess 2008, 2009,

you started having more players handle the ball,

you know, but you still kinda still had the same two bigs, you know, thing,

and then, you went into Phoenix

and changed the whole two bigs, "No, no, one big," you know?

"I need one rim-roller, or one guy that could sprint

down the floor, beat everybody down, if you're down there, you beat the big,

kick it ahead to you, if not, you come set the drag screen,

we gonna spread the game out," you know?

And we adapted that in Miami when Bosh became the five, you know?

And, you know, we see what the game is now,

and now, today, it's almost five out, you know?

Five out, all... Everyone's shooting threes,

so I think when it came to the off-season,

I always wanted to have the adaptability

and the growth mindset to be able to change with the game,

where I was... I will still be productive no matter what the game called for.

-Makes sense. -And I think that's what it was.

It's not like you didn't have it in your package,

it was, "I need to bring out more of this."

What the game calls for,

Does it call for me to be a pick-and-roll player?

Did the game calls for me to be a guy that slash?

Or, you know... Yeah, slash more without the ball, you know?

Did the game calls for me to shoot me a few more threes?

You know, that's where it is today, so you work on those aspects

to where you're still effective, you know?

And you can still adapt and have a growth mindset with the game.

When you're working out in the summer,

you're getting back in the gym, how many days a week

and how long are you in the gym?

When I'm super locked in,

I'm in there five days a week, Monday through Friday.

Saturday is a recovery day where I do absolutely nothing,

Sunday is more of a,

now, starting to, you know, get the bodywork done

and get my mind ready for the long week again,

I try to, on Saturday, just kinda get away from it...

-Yeah. Summertime. -Just get away from it,

you know, whatever it is, but five days a week,

I'm in there and it's usually like, Monday is...

[laughing] Monday is usually the toughest day, you know, obviously,

you're coming off the weekend, two-day weekend,

it's usually the most, you know, strenuous day,

Tuesday is a lot of, like...

A lot of running, but a lot of just catch-and-shooting,

getting your legs back under you,

and then, hump day is Wednesday, you know, hump day is Wednesday, and I...

Once you get over that Wednesday, the rest of the week is pretty...

'Cause that middle of the week is almost...

The body's now caught up a bit, you can get through it.

Yeah, so, you know, I'm trying to go five days a week

once I'm locked in for, like, the...

For eight to ten weeks coming into the season.

Are you doing manual therapy, physio before every session?

-Yeah, I'm getting there... -Diligent.

I usually lift three days out of the week

where I'm, like, in the weight room lifting,

and the other two days, I'm just doing, like, you know,

the ball work, band work, just kinda...

-[Steve] Mobility, stability. -Mobility stuff. Yeah, exactly.

That's one thing I think has changed from the start of my career, for sure,

but probably start of your career too to now,

You have to... I believe you have to be religious

with the mobility, stability stuff,

'cause the way our game's played, and today, it's even faster,

guarding in more space, the travel, you have to stay on top of that stuff.

Yeah, when I came in, and obviously, when you came in,

everybody was like this, you know?

It was like, who can lift the most weights, you know?

Who was the strongest?

That's the only way you could play, and that's the narrative with, you know...

Thankfully, for me, it changed 'cause I wasn't gonna out-lift...

Those motherfuckers that looked like this

realized they couldn't keep up with your ass.

That's why it changed. You helped change it.

I remember coming to the league and

being shocked at how strong Derek Harper was.

Picked me up full court and

-you could grab and hold. -So you can grab.

-He grabbed me by the hip and I was like-- -Yeah.

Oh, I don't know if I can go anywhere.

I was like, how am I gonna break through this?

And so of course, you adapt, you learn.

But the game's come so far from, like you said,

the two bigs, the clutching--

-Right. -Grabbing, chucking,

the hand checking up the court. Man, it was dodgy

-back in the day, right? -Right, yeah, for sure, absolutely.

That's the thing and we'll get to this later in this series but

the talk around sometimes, some people aren't as happy

with the way the game is.

We need to help teach fans how great the game is now.

-Yeah, yeah. Right. -It's not going back to that.

It's a lot of nostalgia an other factors.

But the game is great and we need to teach people

how to appreciate this.

Yeah, we just need to have an appreciation,

and I think if our fans will really go back and watch

-some of those games... -Right.

-...they'll realize then... -Right.

...maybe that's not something we would wanna see

-on a night-to-night basis. -I agree.

The difference between our game now is that...

All of our games are on television every single day,

either nationally, locally or through, uh, League Pass.

So you can watch all of our games.

-In the 80s and the 90s... -Yeah.

...you may be able to catch one game if you had it locally.

-Sure. -If your team

had a local broadcast deal, you could catch it

and if not, then you may not see a game...

-Right. -...for a long time unless-

-Like the NBC broadcast. -NBC, yeah, NBC broadcast.

-Maybe once every couple weeks. -[Steve humming]

[both humming]

You maybe catch one or two games

-every other week. -Yeah.

I think the nostalgia of the game, I think it's just a deeper conversation...

-Right. -...of why we should appreciate

-and celebrate our game of basketball today.

-Right. -Our athletes of today.

-Sure. -Just like

the 60s and 70s and 80s and 90s guys were celebrated.

And 2000 guys were celebrated.

It's definitely a conversation we'll get to later.

We'll get to that. I'm excited about that for sure, but--

How about this, at what point in the summer are you like,

I wanna get in game shape and how do you--

Is it September? Training camp?

Do you prep to get there in training?

- How do you do that? -Well, we both can tell everyone...

-Yeah. -...out there.

There's no way to get in game shape

-in off-season. -Right. No.

But what you can do is get in the best optimal shape

leading up to the...

-Yeah. A step before. -...the step before.

'Cause nobody could come into training camp

and say, "I'm in game shape." It just doesn't happen.

[Steve] Yeah.

So, I try to get into the best shape

I could possibly be in leading into September.

So, when it gets to about...

-After the first week of August... -[Steve] Yeah.

...I start then to, now, start to push a little bit.

-Ramping up the intensity. -I'll start ramping it up.

So every week I ramp it up a little bit more.

-Yeah. -Ramp up the intensity.

Ramp up the conditioning portions.

I start knowing when I'm getting in better shape

when I don't need as many breaks for water.

[Steve] Right.

-That's kind of my gauge. -Yup.

-"I'm fitter this week than last week." -Yeah, yeah.

If I'm doing a 45-minute court workout

and every five to seven minutes, through that 45 minutes

I'm getting a drink of water, I'm like, okay,

I gotta get better, okay and then,

okay, the next week it's every three to five minutes.

And then it's two to four minutes, and then it's one to two minutes.

And then it gets to a point where I've only needed one break in 45 minutes.

That's when I know, okay, I'm in a really good place.

And maybe you could explain through the stages

of your career, but when do you start playing

and in your first start of your career,

first seven years, how much did you--

-When did you start playing? -All five on five?

-Yeah. -Oh, I used to play,

I mean, my first...

Wow, probably my first 12, 14 years, I played all through the summer.

It's 'cause you loved to hoop.

-I just loved to hoop. -Yeah.

-I used to play outdoors. -Yeah.

I played outdoor basketball as a pro.

-Yeah. -I had no idea

how bad that was for me, but I was like...

-It's funny that you said that. -...I fuckin' love ball.

Me and my friend, I go back home in the summertime...

Back in Akron, I played for the Cavs, but I would be back in Akron.

Me and my friends that come back from college,

we'd get a group of, we'd be playing outside.

Like it was nothing, the sun is beaming

-off the blacktop. -Yeah.

-Yeah, it's funny you say that. -Yeah.

When I was at my prime of my career, even first three, four years in Phoenix,

in the summer, go to the facility, do all your work.

Play, whatever. I always wanted to shoot again.

-Yeah. -So I always tried

to shoot again, just how efficient can I be?

So in Phoenix, it's 110, 115 degrees.

I would go to the park, sometimes the driveway,

I would go to a park 'cause no one's gonna be there.

-Right, no, not at 115. -Yeah, right?

Back then, the iPod.

-Yeah, yeah. -You know what I mean?

And make 200 shots, no rebounder.

Just out there, getting my own rebounds, conditioning, it's hot.

It's funny you said that.

Did you ever have fans showing up when you were playing in the park?

Oh, yeah. For sure.

-So you had to be smart about it. -We had to be very smart about it.

-Yeah. -And then I got

very smart and kind of built a little full-court,

-outdoor court at my house... -There you go.

-...in Akron. -Yeah.

And I would have, literally, teammates come over.

And my best friends and we'd have runs in the backyard-

-Yeah. -On the blacktop.

-Yeah, that's amazing. -Yeah.

That's great memories.

-Yeah. -And then say,

the last seven years, do you still play pickup

-before the season or do you-- -Not not as much.

-Yeah. -No, not as much.

-Just the wear and tear, the risk. -Yeah, the wear and tear and the risk.

Especially if I do it early in the season,

early in the off-season, then I have the ability to kind of--

If anything was to happen, I have the ability to recover.

But then it's like...

But my body's still recovering early in the summer.

-Yeah. -And then

it gets to the point where late August hits

and I'm like, do I want to risk--

I've trained my body, I know where I'm at.

I know I'm physically fit and ready to go into training camp.

-Do I really want to risk it? -Right,

-right. -So every now and then...

And during the workouts, I'll play one-on-one.

-[Steve] Yeah. -Or compete versus the coaches

Get some live reps.

Get some live reps with the coaches, they bump you off screens

or they bump you in the post or things of that nature.

So, yeah, but I haven't played as much five-on-five

over the last few years.

So that first two, three weeks of preseason is your time to adapt...

-Yeah. -...to the demands of playing.

To feel the bumps and bruises, the soreness.

-Get the wind there. -Yeah, from here,

from low back, all the way down, you're cooked.

-You're cooked. -It's an adaptation process

you have to go through.

There's no cheating it. No matter how fit you are--

-how much running, stairs-- -Nope.

-That's when you know it's working. -Exactly.

When you can't feel anything from-- from here, all the way down

-and you're like, oh, my God. -[Steve] Yeah.

You're like, I hate gettin' outta shape.

It's like, oh, but I wonder how other people feel

that's not easy, so it's like--

-For sure. -You just gotta stay tapped in.

You gotta go through that because you can't do it 12 months of the year, right?

You have to get out and get back in. You have to build up smart.

Especially as you get in your late 30s--

-You gotta be smart about it. -Yeah, absolutely.

Well, let's shift to the season then.

I'm always curious about this and it's pretty common.

I think fans know this now.

They always say in the NBA, you gotta have a routine.

'Cause you play so many games in different cities, different gyms.

Patterns, sleep patterns, all that.

So making sure you have a routine keeps you accountable.

So you're not making it up as you go along.

And it's definitely for me, I would say, the top 20 guys in the league,

nineteen of them are religious, religious, if not 20,

about their routine, about what shots they need,

all the prep, recovery, diet, sleep, all this stuff.

How do you approach-- I'd love to start with a practice day

and then a game day and show what does your day look like...

-Yeah. -...and how you manage it.

Yeah, for sure, I mean, for a practice day...

If we're practicing at 11, I like to get to the facility around...

Probably around 8, 8:30, to start my work.

Breakfast at the facility or breakfast at home?

I don't eat until after practice.

-After practice. So hydrate? -Yeah.

So I'm hydrating, I have either a green juice-

Yeah.

Or some fruit or whatever the case may be.

But I don't eat a full meal until I get back home after practice.

And that's usually around...

My first meal is usually around 1:30, two o'clock.

And by design or you just don't like eating before?

By design.

So you want that little bit of a fasting quality?

A little bit of fasting quality, by design.

And are you taking supplements?

-Yeah. -Creatine?

-No, no creatine. -No.

No, just natural...

-Everyday vitamins. -Yup.

Things of that nature, yeah.

Just a little protocol of vitamins.

Yup, if I have anything after practice, I have a fruit smoothie.

Because I've burnt so many calories or whatever.

I have a fruit smoothie or some overnight oats.

-Get something in quick before-- -So I get there.

And I usually get dressed and go to the weight room.

I'm usually in the weight room for about 45 minutes.

Every day or different days?

Different days.

If we had a couple days in between hand, I'll go to the weight room then.

'Cause I like to lift on game day as well.

So I'll go to the weight room--

So your lifting schedule isn't predicated

on game day, practice day, it's on the day.

-What have I done? I haven't-- -Yeah, what have I done?

For this week, so say for instance, for this week,

today, we had a day off.

So this morning was predicated on all rehabbing,

bodywork, things of that nature before I got here.

So, I didn't know, strengthening, whatever the case may be.

Tomorrow, we have a game.

I'll go in early and I'll get a lift in before-

And then right after I lift, I'll shoot.

Early, three, four hours-- about five hours before the game start.

Because it's a back to back on Friday,

I probably won't lift that day, it'll be more of a recovery work

and then a little bit of shooting as well, just to prep me for the game.

So, yeah, it's-- it's--

I have schedules dependent on how the games are flowing

-throughout the season- -Yeah, right.

That's routine with the schedule.

But you go in the gym almost every day to do activation?

-Yeah. -Mobility, every day,

-non-negotiable. -Yeah, non-negotiable.

And this is probably a little bit of a summer question,

but in the season, do you break it up into a strength block, a power day?

-Do you break it up in-- -No, I do a little bit of--

-Total body type stuff. -Total body.

-Maintenance. -Total body. Maintenance.

In the summer, do you break it up?

No, in the summer, I break it up 'cause-- The difference between--

You like to break it up in the summer because you don't wanna get...

-You don't wanna get stale. -Right.

For three months, you're doing the same shit.

So, you definitely break it up on purpose.

So you don't get tired of the same routine.

And also you can target in on a specific thing.

Today, we're working on power, strength--

-Whatever it may be. -Exactly. So, for during the season,

-it's kind of the same, a little bit-- -Maintenance.

A change-up, but it's the same routine because it's a cadence.

I know my body is gonna react well to it,

no matter what I'm doing, my body is formed

and it knows exactly how it's gonna get the most out of it for those games.

Right, and the demands... make it almost impossible

-to get gains anyway. -Right.

So of course, you have to touch on these things,

but you can do that in a total body workout,

where you touch on it for maintenance, rather than focus in...

-Yeah, for sure. -...on biometric stuff.

So that's interesting.

-Yeah, for sure. -And game days,

gimme the rundown on game-- or let me go back to practice days.

What are your preferred recovery modules?

Massage? Compression?

Hot and colds? Hyperbaric? Cryo?

-You use 'em all? -It could be all of those on a day.

And I try to maximize as much as I can.

If it's a practice day, I try to get the massage in,

the cold tub in...

-We have the Normatec legs-- -Yeah, Normatec,

-the compression unit. -The compression unit, the ice bags.

I try to get it all in.

-Yeah, use 'em all. -Yeah.

-Variants. -Plus a nap.

When I get home after practice-- The most important. Get a nap in.

-Yup. -When I wake up,

depending on how my body's feeling, I have some things at home where I can

put my foot in a foot bath, knees, everything.

I'm trying to maximize...

How can I be...

To optimal shape

and game-ready for the next day. I'm always thinking about the next day.

-You're obsessed. I love it. -Yeah. [laughing]

I love it. This is kindred spirits in that way because you wanna leave

no stone un-turned for a performance, correct?

Why? It's all there for us. It's all there for us.

I have the luxury of having an unbelievable wife

and help around the household,

to where they allow me to be able to use all my time...

[Steve] Yup.

...while I'm playing the game and listen,

I know when I'm done playing the game,

that time will be-- priority number one will be my wife.

-Yup. -It would be my wife,

my kids.

And I just thank them for allowing me

to have me as priority number one while I've had this profession.

-[Steve] That's great. -They've allowed me to do that.

And I know it's not always been great roses and it's been amazing but

they've allowed me to make myself priority number one in my profession.

Of how I treat my body, how I do things, the hours that I put into it

in order to be the best I can be and...

It's only right I give that back when I'm done.

-But it doesn't work otherwise, right? -Right.

Not if you wanna be amaz-- not if you wanna be great.

If you wanna be great or you wanna keep playing.

Or you wanna keep playing.

You wanna extend your career beyond where you're supposed to play.

That balance, how you handle the stability of home life.

-Right. -But you have to be selfish.

And the family has to understand like it's...

I mean, selfish is the wrong word, you know, committed.

-[LeBron] Yeah. -I'm committed to my craft, my career.

But that family stability... It gives you a platform.

Where you're not worried like, "We're good over here."

-I can go to work and do my thing. -It's worked wonders, man.

It's been amazing, I've definitely-- I've picked the right woman,

and that and you know, the kids have come along

and they've, you know, accepted the fact that

-what I wanted to accomplish. -[Steve] Yeah.

And I've tried to just pour into them when I have the ability

and do the things that I can as a father.

But I've always wanted to be...

I've always wanted to be as great as I could be.

I never knew what it was gonna-- I never knew what it looked like

but I knew my craft and I knew my passion

-for wanting to be great. -[Steve] Yeah.

I didn't know what the end result was.

And that goes back to what we first talked about

when we first started this was the process.

I knew I was in love with the process

and I didn't know what I was gonna get out of the process.

But all I've seen as I've grown up,

and when I've played the game of basketball,

that when I fell in love with the process

-rewards was at the end every time. -Yeah.

And it was never the other way around.

It was never, the rewards are at the end of the tunnel.

And then I worry about the process. It was always about the process.

-Your reward was the process. -My reward was the process.

Yeah, it's a great, honestly, it's a great example, your family.

[LeBron] Yeah, yeah.

The way you've been able to manage both, your family's helped you build a platform

to strive for greatness constantly.

-[LeBron] Absolutely. -And that's...

I mean, that's, I think one of the greatest parts

about your career is not like the Wikipedia page, right?

It's the way you've done it.

Like, man, I've made thousands of mistakes.

I don't know if you've made a couple, like you've done so much,

so long in the spotlight.

I love that example for people out there, for society, for kids.

So that's kudos to you and your wonderful wife and family,

and your kids represent your family...

-Absolutely. -...incredibly well too.

Let me ask you this, game days, you're there so early.

Like this is year 22,

you're there how many hours before the game?

Five.

Five hours before the game like that type of...

I mean, first of all, I think you're crazy.

Like you know, so first like I wanted to be there

an hour and 40 so that I could get there, and be like...

[scatting] Like total efficiency.

What is your frame of mind?

Like, I want to be there all day basically.

Um...

I want to give myself the time

to prepare how I know...

I would like to prepare to get ready for match.

You know, and what I do is...

-All my time is no... -[Steve] Yeah.

-There's no fat. -Yeah.

There's no fuck around time once I get to the arena.

You know, I get there five hours before.

As soon as I get there, I put my workout gear on,

I go right to the weight room.

As soon as I leave the weight room,

I go to the court, get a workout.

As soon as I leave the court, I go get bodywork,

and make sure that my body's moving, and doing those things with my body.

As soon as that is done, you know,

I head in and put the Normatec and the ice,

and all that stuff on and recover from that.

As soon as that is done, now I'm reading the scouting report.

Like and I'm, you know, tapping into that.

Pretty much when that is done, now JJ's coming into the locker room

and he's addressing the team.

-[Steve] Yeah. -And it's time to go.

-Like that is... -That's an an incredible--

I'm eating, I have a little meal, couple snacks there within there.

Obviously, I want to keep the nutrition going and I have to fuel the body

because I know what I'm about to do out on the floor.

But that time it is occupied.

All intent and purpose.

-Yeah, yeah see like... -It's all intent and purpose.

-I had to get away. -Yeah.

So I was the opposite.

Like I wanted to be there and I had my thing, you know,

like go in right away, bodywork, activation.

-Yeah. -Shots.

-Yeah. -Taped.

[Steve] Coach is walking in.

'Cause you know, we play so many games. I didn't want that wasted energy.

That's one thing that I wasn't great at,

is that I would waste like that anxious performance energy.

If I was there too early.

-[LeBron] Yeah. -I wanna save that.

No, no, for sure, I could see that and I'm getting to the...

I have not gotten there,

'cause I'm still doing it, but there are times I'd be like,

"What the fuck are you doing?"

Well, I'm glad you in Portland,

you were like, "Let me hit the alarm again."

I had no control over that.

This body took over me and was like, "You're...

I'm not letting you out this bed."

But there are times, I could see for sure,

I mean, I'm 40 years old, I've been in this thing for 22 years.

So like, you know, I definitely feel and see it, sense it sometimes

when I leave the house at like one o'clock,

the game's at 7:30 and I'm pulling up to the arena,

pulling down in the tunnel at 2:15 in the afternoon

for a 7:30 game and I'm like...

-[Steve] That's incredible commitment. -"All right, let's get to work."

Okay, post-game.

Like post-game, like how dialed are you on nutrition?

Are you like, I have a plan for nutrition at all times.

Are you like 80%, I might cheat mode.

Like how do you manage nutrition?

Well, obviously, you know, being home in a way is...

-[Steve] Right. -...different.

But no, I'm pretty...

I'm pretty locked in on the nutrition side,

you know, when it comes to...

what I put in my body is what I'm gonna get out of it.

-[Steve] Yep. -Obviously, I definitely have cheat modes.

Like I fuckin' love chocolate chip cookies and ice cream.

And since I love ice cream,

I have to get like the dairy-free ice cream

and the low fat, you know... The non, gluten-free cookies.

I have to kind of cheat it that way.

-Yeah, me too. -But I love it.

That's my vice, I love it.

So you know, you have to know like--

You know, you playing all these games--

Does your family think you're crazy for that?

Like, when I go in the fridge and get myself like a yogurt Popsicle

and my kids are like, "That's disgusting."

At this point they've accepted me for who I am.

So yes, they early on...

There's literally, you could go in my freezer

and there's like three different cartons of ice cream in there.

All the healthiest ice cream on the planet.

It's like the...

Well, like when my daughter goes in there, she gets her vanilla bean ice cream,

it's like extra creamery.

I'll be looking at it like, damn looks so good.

Oh my goodness, that's so good.

And then mine over there is like,

oh, you know, dairy-free and no, all that stuff.

-I'm like, oh yeah, just gimme. -Farm to table.

Organic.

But yeah, I'm pretty dialed in on it.

Obviously, like I said, you know, the road and being home is...

You know, it fluctuates a little bit,

but you know, obviously, you're starting to...

In order to be ready for the next game or the road, whatever it is,

it starts right after the game ends and you sit down, you know?

So I'm getting right to the ice and I'm getting right to nutrition

and getting fluids back into me because I need to start preparing for the next game.

So it's funny, a lot of people like see me like walking off the court, you know,

-when there's like time left in the game. -Right, right, right.

Like, no matter if it's a loss or a win.

I'm trying to get to the locker room so I can start my--

-I saw a clip from last night. -The game was a wrap--

He's hungry.

I gotta get to the locker room to start my process to get ready for the next game.

-I'll be sitting in the locker room. -[Steve] That's amazing.

Putting on an ice bag, ice bag's on,

I got my smoothie and my fruit, and I'm already getting to it right now

That's amazing. People will probably see you leave the court and be like...

-"You know, damn he's..." -Yo, they had...

During a loss, they was like,

-"Oh he's a poor sport." -[Steve] Right.

"He's leaving the court, they lost."

And then they see me do it during the wins.

-It was like... -Huh...

"Well, he's got no sportsmanship."

I was like what?

But that's a great thing for fans to know.

Like that's how you that dialed you are on your process,

it's like I cannot wait for the next step in the process.

You're not sitting there ready to chest bump at the buzzer.

-Let me get in this tub. -[LeBron] Let's get going.

I mean, I appreciate it, I was someone

that tried to always look for every advantage.

You know, I probably wasn't gonna beat anyone in a race,

a jumping contest, the lifting, you know?

So I always look for like to learn.

To learn so like the amount of time, resources,

commitment you've put into your body, your craft,

I think is an incredible example for sure.

I mean, listen from outside looking in

and like we said, we never had any conversations about it,

but what you was able to do with your career,

like you said, you wasn't the fastest,

you wasn't the strongest, you wasn't the tallest

and you sitting with two MVP trophies, you know?

And being able to transcend a game of basketball,

like what you did, you know,

in Phoenix with D'Antoni and those guys,

you guys brought a level of expertise to the game

-that's still now being played, you know? -Thank you.

The, "Get the ball up like right away."

You know, like we're not wasting no time.

You know and being able to play with the pass,

being infectious things of that nature and you being a catapult to that

because of your level of commitment to your craft.

I don't think that's talked about enough in our sport.

You know, what's talked about is how high you can jump,

-how far you can shoot. -Yeah.

You know, all these other, how strong you are.

But I think what gets overlooked is the level of commitment to one's craft,

and that is why you're able to succeed.

You know, because we've seen, and in sports,

we've seen the strongest guys don't make it.

We've seen the most athletic guys don't make it.

We've seen the guys with the best looking shot don't make it.

We've seen the guys with the greatest handles don't make it.

What is it that separates? What is it that separates?

Obviously, opportunity sometimes has something to do with it.

Obviously, circumstances has something to do with it,

but there's something about the level of the process

-when it comes to your craft. -[Steve] Right.

And I don't think that's ever talked about enough

when it comes to our sport.

-[Steve] That's an interesting topic-- -Or sports in general.

What are the non-negotiables?

Like what are the themes of greatness?

Like you said, just 'cause you're the biggest,

strongest, fastest, doesn't make you great, right?

Like it's to me it's kind of like resilience,

like intelligence, you know,

like these are the characteristics, like discipline.

[LeBron] Yeah, discipline.

If you have the discipline to work in your craft to get better every day,

to always have a growth mindset.

If you are able to read and react, able to learn on the fly,

you can go places. Like it doesn't matter how big

and so that's the beauty of this, finding the process.

-[LeBron] Yeah. -Like sticking with it, hitting plateaus.

-Not giving up. -And not having all the answers

or not thinking you know all the damn answers.

Being able to have that growth mindset, you know?

Even though you may be great now,

how do you know it's gonna be sustainable five years from now?

Or 10 years from now?

How can you continue to reinvent yourself

to the point where like, you know, it gets to the point where it wasn't...

Your career didn't end 10 years ago

because you gave up on the commitment of the process.

Right yeah, wheels fell off.

And it's by the way, control what you control.

-[Steve] Yeah that's it. -And you can't control that.

And you sleep better at night, you're like, "Fuck you know, I want...

I had more to give, I know I was committed to the craft."

Yeah.

But that's something that you can't control.

That's something certain people can't control

-and that's okay. -Yeah.

But how can you sleep better at night

when you know that you've cheated the process

or you didn't give everything that you had,

when you had all the opportunities to.

You know, that that's the thing that I knew for sure

that I did not want to be a part of that conversation.

-[Steve] Yeah. -Cause I knew I had the gifts.

I saw I had the gifts, I knew I had the gifts.

People were saying I had the gifts.

I mean, I guess they know something, something has to be going right.

But in order for me to actually fulfill my commitment

and my gifts, and fulfill what I think I can become,

I have to be able to tap into the process

and lock in on that.

That's an amazing message and a great place to stop.

And if you listen the last 45 minutes, there's no doubt you maximized your gifts

as prodigious as your gifts have been, as early as you were touted as a great,

there's a long way from start to finish.

And I think your process is what got you there, not your gifts,

and that's a great message and a great example for people out there

in sport, out sport, all that so I appreciate it

-and it was fun to hear about it. -I appreciate you.

[bluesy theme music]

We got it, what do we got?

-Another nine sit-downs so, hey... -It's gonna be great.

-Appreciate you. -[crew indistinctly chatting]

I wanted to ask though,

you need to bake into your day fuck around time.

It's by design not because you don't have a plan.

-Right. -So I wanted to ask like, what is it?

Is it reality shows, is it Madden?

-My shit is Madden. -I was gonna say-

-Madden. -I heard it was Madden.