Athletes that get better as they get older rare, simply because a 30+ year old body doesn’t work the same as a 20+ year old body.
But, LeBron has bucked that trend and part of the reason according to him is because of a NAVY SEAL.
A few years ago, James did run into a problem, a serious issue that for the first time truly threatened to derail his career. He had disc issues in his lower back that were zapping his strength and bounce. He didn’t talk about them much, and he tried his best to play through them. But James — video and stats showed — was weakening.
James was laying on the court during timeouts, propped on a towel in discomfort. It brought to mind Larry Bird and Steve Nash, all-time greats who saw their careers zapped in their 30s because of back issues.
James needed two anti-inflammatory injections in his lower back in a 10-month span in 2015, one shutting him down for two weeks midseason and another wiping out his preseason. And the possibility was left open that he might need more numbing shots, an indication he was dealing with something serious.
Concerned, James called in a specialist, a quiet and unassuming man who has been around the Cavs nearly every day for the past three seasons but who largely goes unnoticed, even as the product of his work is on display with James nightly. He is Donnie Raimon, James’ personal biomechanist — a specialist in human movement who combines biology and physical mechanics — and the man who has helped James overcome those back problems.
Raimon was a SEAL for 15 years and became a disciple of biomechanics when he used the science to help himself to get over a severe neck injury suffered during a parachute jump that Navy doctors struggled to heal.
Raimon focused on strengthening James’ core muscles and exercises that improved his posture, taking stress off the lower back. Before games, Raimon tries to activate James’ core with intense work. Then, James will wrap himself in heat pads to stay warm, which he also does at halftime. Last season, James set a career high with 145 dunks. He is behind that pace this season, but he’s making up for it in sheer power, as last week showed.
People have always marveled at how LeBron doesn’t seem to slow down. There have been rumors about other things, but it appears it is just hard work.